
Class E-'MO 



i^i4 



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GENERAL CASS. 



LIFE 



OF 



GENERAL LEWIS CASS: 



COMPRISING AN ACCOUNT OF HIS 



MILITARY SERVICES IN THE NORTH-WEST 



DURING THE 



WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN, 



HIS DIPLOMATIC CAREER AND CIVIL HISTORY. 



TO WHICH IS APPENDED 



A SKETCH OF THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HISTORY 

OF 

MAJOR-GENERAL W. 0. BUTLER, 

OF THE VOLUNTEER SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES. 



WITH TWO PORTRAITS, 



PHILADELPHIA: 

G. B. Z I E B E R & CO 

1848. 






Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1848, by 

G. B. ZIEBER &. CO. 

in the clerk's office of the District Court of the United States for 
* the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



STEREOTYPED BY J. FAG AN 
PRINTED BY C SHERMAN. 



(2) 



PREFACE. 



The following pages profess to be nothing 
more than a compilation thrown together 
within a brief space of time, to illustrate the 
career of the distinguished men nominated as 
candidates for the two first offices of the na- 
tion. Without aspirations after literary merit, 
it has been sought to give a popular account 
of the eventful lives of these personages, and 
to place them in a proper position before the 
people, without dwelling too long on the in- 
tricacies of politics and party. When these 
became the subject, General Cass has been 
caused, as far as possible, to speak for himself, 

(iii) 



iv PREFACE. 

and extracts from his many printed speeches 
and essays have been made, to which the 
reader will not object, it* he has a perception 
of power and eloquence. 

In the account of General Butler, little 
more has been done than to expand the well- 
written sketch of Mr. Blair, which at the time 
of its publication attracted such general atten- 
tion. With these brief explanations, this book 
is presented to the public. 

Philadelphia, June, 1848. 



LIFE 



OF 



GENERAL LEWIS CASS. 



1* (v) 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

Biography of Lewis Cass — His Father — Early emigration 
to the North-west — Character of that country, etc. — 
Studies law — Admitted to the Bar — Burr — Marshal of 
the State, etc Page 11 

CHAPTER II. 

Preparations for War — March to the Frontier — War — 
Invasion of Canada — Hull's procrastination — Battle at 
Aux Canards — Retreat from Canada — Cass's Remon- 
strance — Detached Service — Surrender of Detroit — 
Visit to Washington — Letters — Promotion — Thanks 
of the Legislature of Ohio 23 

CHAPTER III. 

Joins General Harrison's army — Moves to the Frontier — 
Crosses into Canada — Advance — Battle of the Thames, 
etc. — Cass complimented by General Harrison — Anec- 
dotes — Governor of Michigan 52 

(vii) 



Vlll CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Michigan after the War — Commissioner to treat with 
the Indians — Improved condition of Michigan, etc. — 
Literary Matters 76 

CHAPTER V. 

General Cass's Civil Services — Literary History — John 
Hunter — General Jackson — Nullification — Alabama — 
Black Hawk War — Creek War — Seminole War — 
Minister to France 85 

CHAPTER VI. 

Letter from General Jackson — Diplomatic Services — 
Indemnity — Eastern Tour — Quintuple Treaty 96 

CHAPTER VII. 

Mr. Cass in the United States — Visit to General Jackson 
— Letters — Course in the Senate— -Nomination by the 
Baltimore Convention — Correspondence, &c 132 



LIFE 



OF 



GENEEAL CASS 



CHAPTER I. 

Bioo-raphy of Lewis Cass— His Father— Early emigration to the 
North-west— Character of that country, etc.— Studies law- 
Admitted to the Bar— Burr— Marshal of the State, etc. 

It has become an axiom, that no one should at- 
tempt to write the biography of any individual, until 
the tomb should have become the seal of the career 
of the subject. Manv examples might be given of 
the truthfulness of this, both in the annals of our 
own land and of other nations, well known to all 
who read and think. The biography of the elder 
Adams, previous to the passage of the alien and se- 
dition laws, the career of Burr before his defeat and 
subsequent treason, and of many less important but 
equally significant personages, would prove how 
different often is the estimate placed on men, from 
their sterling value. There are, however, occasions 
when the name and history of a man become the 
property of the nation ; when the varied events ot 
his career, whether in the camp, senate, or service 
of his country abroad, become the property of the 
people, who have a right to canvass and discuss in 



12 LIFE OF 

detail each item of his history, and when it becomes 
almost a duty to ascertain and fix positively the 
landmarks of his social and public history. 

This is a consequence of the peculiar character 
of our country, which, setting aside, if not the ex- 
perience, at least the practice of the old world, in 
the selection of its rulers, looks rather to the traces 
left by the feet of the living, than to inscriptions 
laudatory of the dead. 

When a great people, to whose intelligence are 
confided not only their own rights and those of their 
children, but, in a great degree, the future of hu- 
manity, it called upon to select its chief magistrate 
and holder of the executive power, it becomes each 
member of the community to acquire, if not a tho- 
rough knowledge, at least a general acquaintance 
with the events of the lives of the candidates for 
the high position, especially when they appear be- 
fore the community, endorsed by the recommenda- 
tion of either of the great classes, into which party 
and opinion have divided the nation. The history 
of parties in the United States inculcates a sad les- 
son, and if we believe the journals of the day, dur- 
ing each political canvass, we must think either that 
the candidates are god-like and unequalled heroes, 
Nestors in experience, Ulysses in wisdom, and 
Achilles in courage, or deem them disgraces to hu- 
manity and opprobriums to society. Except Gene- 
ral Washington, and perhaps Mr. Jefferson, no one 
who has occupied the seat of the president, has es- 
caped this indiscriminate censure and laudation, 
each of which has often been so indiscreet and in- 
discriminate, that victims have fled for shelter to 
their enemies, and cried in agony, " Save me from 
my friends." 

The United States stand on the eve of one of the 
great convulsions which, occurring on every fourth 
year, shake society, break down the divisions of 
party, and lately have amounted to n total revolu- 



GENERAL CASS. 



13 



tion in all of the ministerial departments. The pe- 
culiar structure of the organization of government 
makes it necessary that new presidents should bring 
with them new secretaries, and the latter new offi- 
cials in important and minor capacities, more or less 
affecting each individual of the community, and 
makino- from their natural dependence, each circum- 
stance°of the career of the candidates of either of 
the two great parties important. 

The democratic spirit of our government is not a 
thing of theory, a mere expansion of words, but a 
principle, pervading the idea and action of both of 
the two great powers. Nothing makes this more 
apparent than the organization of parties, which 
almost recalls to us the conduct and condition of 
those countries, in which two races, each having 
its own peculiar ruler and code, were condensed. 
We find them meeting and acting alone, with a 
party constitution as well defined as the law of the 
land* submissive to the principle that the wish and 
interest of the many is the interest and should be 
the wish of the few : each party has erected itself 
into a subordinate republic, and established the rule 
that a majority, greater or less, as the case might 
be, shall control its decision in the selection of a 
candidate. The party annals of the United States 
have shown how absolute is this decision ; for in no 
case, since the establishment of these sub-republics, 
has the mass of either party failed to use its influ- 
ence, or cast its voice, for the person who had been 
designated as a candidate. On the propriety of this, 
great and good men of either party have differed — 
it being notorious that, after the fiat of the party, 
the people vote according to the suggestion of the 
convention, to which they adhere almost as blindly 
as canons and deans in ecclesiastical corporations, 
abroad, cast their suffrages for the person, whom, 
by a chancellor's writ, they are permitted to elect* 
This mav be wron£. Both parties, however, are 
2 






14 LIFE OF 

liable to reproach, and show that they are aware of 
it, by the fact of their applying to the convention of 
their opponents opprobrious epithets, which are 
equally appropriate to their own cases.* It is un- 
fortunately but too true, that this party allegiance 
has proved more powerful, and exerted more influ- 
ence, than the call of the higher and undoubted 
appeal of patriotism. This is a statement which 
needs no proof; each one, within his own experience, 
being able to recall a recent and striking instance. 
We have seen the whole democratic party cry for 
war for indemnity, and the satisfaction of our na- 
tional claims on Mexico ; on the other hand, almost 
without an exception, we have seen the w r hig party 
brand the government, and the party which sup- 
ported it, as an oppressor of the weak abroad, and 
the labouring man at home ; we have listened to its 
loud declamation against the war, its causes, con- 
duct, purposes and results. Now, not only Brutus, 
but Caesar, " is an honourable man," yet one or the 
other is undoubtedly mistaken ; and it becomes 
the duty of the friends of both to ascertain each item 
of the history of the two persons presented to them 
as exponents of the two great political churches 
which solicit their adherence and support. 

When the necessity of this knowledge is admitted, 
it follows as a corollary not only that it is admissi- 
ble, but becomes a duty, for each one to contribute 
his mite to the general stock of information on this 
most important subject. Therefore is it that this 
book has been written. In our country we profess 
to disregard family antecedents, and to look altoge- 
ther to the character of the man. It is, however, a 

* In England, and other European states, when a vacancy 
in any Bishopric or Arch Episcopate occurs, the royal power 
virtually appoints an incumbent, but under the guise of a writ, 
or permit, to elect (conge cVelire) a particular person. Thus, 
the conventions recommend men who receive the unanimous 
vote of their respective parties. 



GENERAL CASS. 



15 



great mistake to suppose that we have been able to 
cast aside the prejudices and faults of our fathers, or 
that we wish to strip ourselves of their former glory. 
It is believed that no biography was ever written, 
which did not specify at least the services, and 
attempt to define the character of the parent of the 
hero. Following this precept, and without pausing 
to inquire whether it would not be more honoured in 
the breach than in the observance, we will state at 
once that Lewis Cass has reason to be proud of his 
genealogy. 

His father, Jonathan Cass, of the revolutionary 
army, was a native of Massachusetts, and descend- 
ant of a reputable family, long established in the 
vicinity of Boston. When the news of the contest 
at Lexington became known to the people of that 
section of country, and when it was obvious that 
not only was the British ministry determined to 
persevere in its course, but that the strife had actu- 
ally commenced, Jonathan Cass enlisted in the army. 
His subsequent career, and the memorials of his ser- 
vice, prove him to have been a man of education, 
and as such, justified in aspiring to at least a higher 
post than that of a private sentinel. Under the con- 
viction, however, that the nation needed the heart 
and arms of all its children, he placed himself in the 
humblest capacity, participated in the operations in 
front of Boston, and by obedience learned to com- 
mand. In but a short time he became an ensign, 
and after serving in the various campaigns in Jer- 
sey, and the middle states, attained the rank of 
captain, which he held at the end of the war. Dur- 
ing this trying time, the courage of Jonathan Cass, 
and his prudence and judgment, were well estab- 
lished, so that when Wayne commenced his success- 
ful expedition against the Indians in the northwest, 
he was recalled to service, with the higher grade of 
major. On this expedition it was that he acquired 
that knowledge of the west, which induced him 



16 LIFE OF 

ultimately to make it the home of his family. He 
emigrated thither, after the termination of hostilities, 
and died, ultimately, at his residence, in Muskingum 
county, Ohio. 

Lewis Cass was born at Exeter, New Hampshire, 
on the 9th of October, 1782, and when his father 
was appointed a major in Wayne's army accompa- 
nied him southward. At that time, the pay of 
officers of the army was small, and barely sufficed 
for their necessary expenses, so that young Cass 
was not unwillingly constrained to attempt to add 
as much as possible to the family income by his own 
exertions. While Major Cass was stationed at 
Wilmington, Delaware, on the recruiting service, 
his son taught a school at that place, and he remained 
there until after his father had left for the army. 
Then, as he states himself, on foot he crossed the 
Alleghany, and established at Marietta in the then 
North-western Territory. This must have occurred 
in 1799, as persons who have every facility for 
obtaining correct information, state that at that time 
young Cass had "just entered his eighteenth year." 
At this time the population of the whole North-west, 
including the old French establishment at Detroit, 
in Michigan, the ports on the lakes and the thriving 
settlements around Kaskaskia, Illinois, was less than 
twenty thousand souls, and sent but one delegate to 
congress. There is therefore no inaptness in that 
resolution of the Democratic convention of the state 
of Ohio, which claimed Lewis Cass as one of the 
"early pioneers" of their country. It may not be 
improper here to call attention to the immense pro- 
gress made by the region then known as the North- 
western Territory, which now,after a lapse of fifty 
years, contains five sovereign states ; sends to the 
National Congress thirty-five representatives ; and 
has a population of more than three millions of souls. 

It was the peculiarity, and it is not improbable, 
the blessing of the west, that no one of its inhabitants 



GENERAL CASS. 17 

at that time, could shake off his portion of the bur- 
den of toil and hardship, by which alone the country- 
could have been lifted to its present position. For 
vears young Cass participated in all this labour, 
and in the constant peril to which all were exposed 
by the vicinity of savage tribes, inimical to the new 
settlers, not only on account of the natural antipathy 
of race, but in consequence of the perpetual machi- 
nations of the British agents, who long and most 
unjustifiably kept in the pay of England and stimu- 
lated to hostilities a race, whom not only the letter 
of national treaties, but human charity bound them 
at least to let alone. They did not, however, thus 
abstain, for long before the declaration of war 
against Great Britain, her allies were in the field, 
and the United States were compelled to employ a 
large military force to keep them in check. 

In 1802, during the territorial government, Lewis 
Cass was admitted to the bar, having previously 
gone through a course of legal instruction under the 
privilege of R. J. Meigs, in the town of Marietta. 
Under fair auspices he commenced the practice of 
the law, travelling, as was the custom of the day, on 
horseback, and often alone, through the expanse of 
forest which seperated the various places of the 
session of the courts, in that then sparsely inhabited 
country. The life of a western lawyer at that day 
was certainly arduous, but had its pleasures. The 
long and solitary journeys through the wilderness 
encouraged the habit of reflection and matured 
thought : it made all who participated in it familiar 
with the character of the whole country, and was 
not by any means without peculiar advantages, from 
the fact that it brought together men of rare quali- 
ties, whose energy and anxiety to achieve something 
had induced them to turn from the idleness of life in 
the old states, to the hardships of the frontier. 

As a lawyer, the success of Cass was decided, 
and his reputation well established, so that in 1806, 



Oi : 



18 LIFE OP 

he was elected a member of the legislature from 
Muskingum county, over many competitors. Scarce- 
ly a lawyer, who is not- an aspirant for political dis- 
tinctions, exists within the United States, and Cass 
had many opponents, all of whom seem, however, to 
have approved of the popular choice. During the 
session of the legislative body he was a conspicuous 
member, participating in all the debates on state 
concerns, and in the important discussion which re- 
sulted in the passage of the law, which authorized 
the executive to use the power of the state to dis- 
perse the partisans of Burr, taking the lead, and in- 
troducing the bill he had draughted into the house. 
How important this step was, will be evident to all, 
on an examination of the state of the country. 

Aaron Burr was one of those men who with im- 
mense mental power, fail even in the limited career 
they propose to themselves, temporary success, 
because the moral faculties or organs are not propor- 
tioned to their mental capacity. Born within what 
many are pleased to call the upper circles, he had 
received a brilliant education, and at the era of the 
revolution, carried away by the popular impetus, or 
perhaps, far-seeing enough to be satisfied that the 
cause would ultimately succeed, he had entered the 
military service of the government, and, notwith- 
standing the statements of the many volumes w r hich 
have been written since 1808, had served with no 
small distinction in the Revolutionary army. Dis- 
banded on the termination of the war, as were 
Hamilton, Monroe, Timothy Pickering, and others 
of the same grade, like them he had directed his 
attention to the civil service of the government. 
How great his influence was, may be gathered from 
the fact, that he was the rival and nearly the suc- 
cessful one of the great apostle of democracy, Mr. 
Jefferson; and it is more than likely, but for the 
prejudice excited by the circumstance of his having 
killed Hamilton, the idol of the Federalist party, 



GENERAL CASS. 19 

in a duel, he would have occupied the Presidential 

chair. 

In spite of the many attacks made on the social 
character of Colonel Burr, there is every reason to 
believe, that he would have occupied the post of 
chief magistrate, with as much dignity as any, who 
have since become its incumbents. For this, his 
brilliant genius, his intelligence, and his conver- 
sational eloquence admirably qualified him. He 
had, however, risen so high, that the one other grade 
in the scale of dignity became indispensable to him, 
and, disappointed in attaining that, he fell, as far 
purer beings have done before him, through envy. 
So anxious had he been to succeed, that his whole 
resources, personal and of party, had been put forth, 
and having been defeated, was as utterly powerless 
as Napoleon became after Waterloo. The election 
of Mr. Jefferson firmly established the predominance, 
for years to come, of the politicians of his school, 
and success to Burr in the United States became an 
impossibility. 

One of the most distinguished jurists of the day, 
wealth and distinction in that sphere were attain- 
able; but the judicial ermine of the national tribu- 
nals would never have been conferred on one who 
had so nearly defeated the executive and appointing 
power. It is well this was the case, for a person 
whom envy could lash into treason was not fit to be 
the depository of the great conservative power of 
the government. Discontented, disappointed and 
moody, Burr disappeared from the popular eye, and 
when he again emerged, it was as the opponent of 
the government to which he aspired, and as an out- 
law, for the apprehension of whom every civil and 
military officer of the nation was on the alert. 

What was precisely the plan of Colonel Burr, it 
is impossible now to ascertain : circumstances, how- 
ever, indicate that if he did not actually meditate 
the dismemberment and separation of the territories 



20 LIFE OF 

of the union, his design was treasonable. When a 
single man in the midst of a peaceful community is 
found armed to the teeth, and violating the ordinary- 
police regulations, it is fair to conclude that he medi- 
tates the perpetration of wrong, and it becomes his 
duty to satisfy the people of his honest intentions. So 
when an individual places himself at the head of mili- 
tary array in a peaceful land, it is a fair presumption 
that he meditates war and treason, and the govern- 
ment, if it discharges its duty, is bound not only to 
call the offender to account, but to crush his power. 
The latter was precisely the case of Burr. 

The government of the United States had been so 
recently established, that the men who had lived 
before the revolution, and under the government 
which existed between the ratification of peace and 
the inauguration of General Washington, had not all 
learned thoroughly to transfer their love and duty 
to the new authorities. They still devoted them- 
selves to their several states, and if they were faith- 
ful to the United States, it was because the pros- 
perity of their respective homes was involved in 
the national prosperity. In 1803, the district of 
Louisiana had been purchased, notwithstanding the 
opposition of a factious minority, and Governor 
Claiborne sent thither to take possession of the ac- 
quisition. Many Americans had gone thither, and 
listened, with eager ears, to the stories of Mexican 
mines and Spanish wealth, by which their cupidity 
had been excited, until at last the wish became father 
to the thought, that in the existing difficulties of 
Spain, it would be easy to seize at least a portion of 
the most magnificent of her colonies, and found there, 
as their own fathers had done in the United States, 
a new government. This idea pervaded the whole 
community, and every thing tends to show that it 
was the purpose of no conspiracy, if that word im- 
plies secrecy, but the common theme of public con- 
versation among the floating population of the whole 



GENERAL CASS. 



21 



west. This population was peculiar. The most 
adventurous men of the whole nation were hemmed 
in the valley of the Ohio, where they were shut up 
by the power and presence of the Pottawattamie, 
and other tribes on the north, and the great tribes 
of Tennessee on the south. They had not the free 
scope of the whole continent, which has since been 
opened to them, and had shaken off the restraints 
imposed by society in the older states. They were 
ready to undertake any scheme of wild adventure. 
The army of Wayne had been disbanded in the west, 
and many of the officers, needy and poor, yet hung 
around the cities, where they became- the associates 
of foreign adventurers of every grade and character. 
A plan was formed by these men, it is now believed, 
to seize on a portion of Mexico, and establish them- 
selves there ; and goaded by his disappointed ambi- 
tion and envy, Burr placed himself at their head. 
So far as the scheme was directed against the then 
Spanish colonies of Mexico, the intention was, accord- 
ing to the laws of the United States, merely a dis- 
meanor. New Orleans had, however, been garri- 
soned by the United States, and as it controlled the 
passes of the Mississippi, must necessarily be seized 
on by the adventurers. This was treason; and the 
moment two men assembled for the purpose of car- 
rying the plan into effect, at however remote a day, 
war had been waged, and treason been committed, 
against the United States. This condition of affairs 
existed at the time that Lewis Cass sat in the Gene- 
ral Assembly of Ohio. 

The State of Virginia claimed the control of the 
Ohio river, wherever it touched her, as far as the 
northern bank ; but the western declivity of the Al- 
leghany, even now sparsely populated, was then a 
wilderness, except on the banks of the river, and 
the seat of the state government was far off at Rich- 
mond. On one of the islands of the river, the sub- 
sequently well-known Blennerhasset had established 



22 L I F E O F 

himself, and his house became the nucleus of in- 
trigue. To put an end to this state of affairs, on the 
11th December, 1806, Mr. Cass introduced the bill 
referred to above, suspending the habeas corpus, and 
thereby enabling the civil and military officers to 
execute efficiently the duty required from them by 
the proclamation of the President. 

This was a great and a decided step, necessary at 
that time to put an end to the conspiracy or plot, 
and attracted much attention to Mr. Cass. The 
party of intriguers at Blennerhasset's island and 
other places, having been dispersed by the conse- 
quences of this course of Mr. Cass, Burr turned his 
steps southward, and soon after was arrested by 
Captain (now Major-General) Gaines of the army, 
the commander of Fort Stodert, a military post be- 
tween New Orleans and Mobile. In the similarity 
of agents' plans, etc., there is much in this plot of 
Burr's, as far as we can now follow its mazes, to re- 
mind us of the infamous conspiracy of Nicholls and 
others, subsequently so signally foiled by General 
Jackson. In March of the next year, 1807, Mr. 
Jefferson appointed Mr. Cass marshal of the United 
States for the district of Ohio, in the discharge of 
the duties of which he remained until 1812, re- 
siding almost constantly on his estate in Muskingum 
county. 

Previously to his leaving the legislature of Ohio, 
Mr. Cass wrote and introduced the well-known ad- 
dress, adopted unanimously by-the Senate and House 
of Representatives of that state, to congratulate 
Mr. Jefferson on the frustration of Burr's plans. 



GENERAL CASS. 



23 



CHAPTER II. 

Preparations for War — March to the Frontier — War — Invasion 
of Canada — Hull's procrastination — Battle at Aux Canards — 
Retreat from Canada — Cass's Remonstrance — Detached Ser- 
vice — Surrender of Detroit — Visit to Washington — Letters — 
Promotion — Thanks of the Legislature of Ohio. 

The duties of marshal of the United States at 
that time in Ohio, were most arduous and occupied 
Mr. Cass completely. This will be readily appre- 
ciated, when it is remembered there were within the 
state a large number of Indians, the trade and in- 
tercourse with whom was regulated by laws of con- 
gress, the enforcement of which rested exclusively 
with the courts of which Mr. Cass was the minis- 
terial officer. It also became his duty to exercise a 
general supervision over the countless acres of wild 
land, then unsold, in almost every portion of the 
state, and to assist, as far as possible, the officers of 
customs on the northern frontier, then few and far 
between, in the discharge of their onerous duties, in 
preventing the introduction of arms among the In- 
dians already hostile in their feelings to the United 
States. 

These important duties kept him occupied, and as 
his office was incompatible with legislative functions, 
we do not find his name in the records of the many 
important events of the legislative history of Ohio 
for several years. 

Previous to the actual declaration of war, under 
the conviction that it was inevitable, the government 
of the United States had begun diligently to prepare 
for it, and among other steps determined to place on 



24 LIFE OF 

the frontier a large force, so that when the contest 
actually began, an invasion of Canada might be 
commenced or hostilities against the United States 
repelled. At the head of this army was placed 
General Hull, who had under his orders three regi- 
ments of Ohio volunteers, and the gallant and uni- 
versally distinguished 4th regiment of infantry. Of 
the 3d regiment of Ohio volunteers, Mr. Cass was, 
without serious opposition, elected colonel. His ac- 
ceptance of the command, of course made it neces- 
sary for him to relinquish the office of marshal. 

The position of the country at this time was 
strange. The people were anxious for war, the 
whole country busy in preparation ; yet the govern- 
ment, existing only in the breath of the people, hesi- 
tated. In the interim, the British government con- 
tinued its outrages both on the seas and the north- 
west frontier, exhibiting the brutality of the ruffian, 
who seeks by continued indignities, to wrest from a 
feebler party, not an excuse, but a pretext for 
quarrel. The people of the United States were most 
indignant, and nowhere more so than in the west, so 
that the quota of volunteers called for from Ohio, 
was obtained without difficulty, and comprised the 
flower of the state, which was then pervaded by a 
military spirit unusual, but easy to be accounted for. 

In the war with the Prophet and the tribes con- 
federated under his influence, in 1811, Great Britain 
had apparently not interfered ; yet there was not in 
the whole northwest one person who doubted that 
the British authorities in Canada were mainly in- 
strumental in bringing about and sustaining the 
league. The hostilities of the league of the Prophet 
and his brother Tecumseh were terminated by the 
brilliant victory of Tippecanoe, but the feeling of 
military ambition brought home bv the volunteers 
who had gained it pervaded the whole people, and 
everywhere the young men embodied themselves in 
military companies. What the memory of victory 



GENERAL CASS. 25 

accomplished in the west was brought about on the 
Atlantic by the news of the affair of the Little Belt, 
and its forerunner, the attack on the Chesapeake, 
which latter outrage alone should have impelled the 
people to war. 

There was some excuse for the dilatory conduct 
of the authorities : the constitution and government 
of the United States might have, at that time, been 
considered as tested, and proven admirably calcu- 
lated for a state of peace, but it was yet doubtful 
whether it would survive that terrible ordeal for all 
popular governments, war. Many able and patri- 
otic men doubted its capacity to undergo this test ; 
and the world construed their hesitation into cow- 
ardice. Napoleon, and the English ministry, each of 
whom had attempted to entangle the United States 
in alliances, began to look on us with contempt ; and 
in spite of the antecedents of the Revolution, the 
promptness with which the aggressions of the French 
minister Genet had been met, and the war with 
Tripoli, the name of an American had almost be- 
come a reproach, and the flag of the Union had 
ceased to protect the vessel that bore it. A limit 
to all this was, however, at hand ; and, yielding to 
the voice of the people, congress, on the 18th of 
June, 1812, declared war against Great Britain, 
which on the next day was publicly proclaimed. 

The flower of the people of Ohio had responded 
to the call, and probably a finer body of irregular 
troops had never been seen than General Hull com- 
manded ; and it was prepared to wipe out a long 
series of affronts, by operations in the country of 
the enemy. Previous to the declaration of war, the 
army of Hull had been collected at Dayton, in 
Montgomery county, whither Colonel Cass soon 
marched with his regiment, which had been recruited 
in the eastern portion of the state. Early in June, 
the volunteers moved towards Urbanna, in Cham- 
paign county, where they were joined by the vete- 
3 



26 LIFE OF 

ran 4th infantry, which, under Colonel Boyd, had 
won so much fame at Tippecanoe. 

The country between Urbanna and the Rapides 
was then a wilderness, in possession of the Indians. 
From Urbanna, the route lay through a pathless 
forest, and the natural character of the region op- 
posed great difficulties to the march. A road was 
to be opened, streams to be bridged, and often long 
causeways to be constructed over morasses. Even 
now the traces of these labours may be seen; and 
often a long belt of timber, of smaller and different 
growth, will indicate the route along which Hull's 
army marched. Animated, however, by the cheer- 
fulness and energy which is the forte of the Ameri- 
can people, this arduous portion of the march was 
soon accomplished; and in as brief a time as was 
reasonable, the army reached Rapides (about the 
last of June). 

Fron> the Rapides of the Miami of the Lake to 
Detroit, the country was sparsely inhabited by a 
Canadian French population, and became more in- 
teresting and cheerful, though it was not then with- 
out hardships. At Rapides, a small schooner was 
loaded with a portion of the baggage of the army, 
to enable them to march more rapidly. At this place 
an unfortunate though perhaps necessary delay oc- 
curred, in consequence of which the British heard 
of the declaration of war before General Hull, and 
captured the schooner and stores, at the same time 
making prisoners of a subaltern's guard on board 
of it. On the 5th of July, the army reached De- 
troit, just in time to prevent its occupation by the 
British forces, which had already begun works on 
the other side of the river, and to fortify a position 
a few miles below. From these positions they were 
soon forced to retreat by a well-directed fire of ar- 
tillery. 

The army was most anxious to invade Canada ; 
and Colonel ('ass, who, with McArthur, had more 



GENERAL CASS. 27 

influence than any other of the volunteer officers, 
used great efforts to induce General Hull to take 
this step. The General, however, had been bred in 
the army, and had great prejudices against volun- 
teer forces, thinking them not to be relied on with 
confidence. This feeling, although 'he knew the 
enemy were not prepared to receive him, induced 
him to delay until it is probable the season for suc- 
cess had passed away. By dint of constant per- 
suasion, Colonel Cass at last brought him to a deci- 
sion, and, after two abortive attempts in front of 
the British batteries, the American army, on the 
12th of July, crossed the river unopposed, and en- 
tered the village of Sandwich. Here another delay 
took place, and Hull published his famous procla- 
mation, which nothing has prevented from being 
considered a masterpiece but his ultimate failure 
and surrender. 

This manifesto, which may be esteemed a model, 
has since been avowed to have emanated from 
the pen of Colonel Cass, and is worthy of the high 
reputation he has since acquired. Unfortunately, 
it promised more than the general who signed it 
was capable of performing. Had the command 
rested in other hands, it would have become world- 
renowned. 

During this time. Colonel Cass continued the mas- 
ter-spirit of the army, and exerted himself as far as 
possible to induce Hull to activity. The old man's 
faults, delay and sloth, had, however, seized upon 
the general, and he here frittered away many valu- 
able days. This circumstance created much dis- 
satisfaction among officers and men, who could not 
but compare the procrastination of the general with 
the eagerness of others, especially with Colonel Cass, 
who had been the first armed American who stood 
on the Canada shore, whither he had passed with the 
vanguard of his own regiment, which led the column 
on the 12th of July. 



28 LIFE OF 

After the publication of his manifesto, General 
Hull detached Colonel Mc Arthur to seize on the coun- 
try along the Thames, which was well settled, and 
thriving. This was accomplished without resist- 
ance, and McArthur returned to Sandwich with a 
large quantity of blankets, ammunition, and military 
supplies, together with a great many articles evi- 
dently intended for the Indian allies of the " Defender 
of the Faith." About the same time, Colonel Cass 
was detached with a party of two hundred and 
eighty men towards Fort Maiden, a strong post, 
where a large body of Indians and British regular 
troops were collected. This important point, at the 
embouchure of the Detroit river, commands the pass- ' 
age to and from the lake, and was about thirteen miles 
from the camp of General Hull. Colonel Cass, fol- 
lowing the course of the Riviere aux Canards, at 
the distance of about four miles of Maiden, found a 
strong British force in possession of a bridge. After 
an examination of the position, a rifle corps com- 
manded by Captain Robinson, was ordered to ad- 
vance and occupy the enemy, while at the head of 
the remainder of his force, Colonel Cass sought to 
turn their lower flank, and attack their rear. The 
people of Canada, at least on this portion of the 
frontier, do not seem to have extended a great deal 
of aid and comfort to the invaders ; Colonel Cass 
was without a guide, and being unacquainted with 
the topography of the place, was unable to reach 
the rear of the enemy until nearly night, when the 
design to surprise the post having been discovered, 
large reinforcements had been advanced. A short, 
sharp, and decisive affair, however, occurred, and 
the British guard was compelled to abandon its 
position, with a loss of eleven killed and wounded,* 
besides many desertions. 

This was an important success, for it opened the 
route to Maiden, and Colonel Cass immediately 
despatched an express to General Hull informing 



GENERAL CASS. 29 

him of what had occurred, and urging him to march 
at once. Had he done so, the route of seventeen 
miles between the American camp and Maiden, 
could ,soon have been accomplished, and Maiden 
would have fallen. What influences prevented Hull 
from acting thus have never been understood : the 
probability however, is, that professional pride would 
not permit the veteran soldier, for Hull had been 
distinguished in the revolution, to follow the sugges- 
tion of a colonel of militia. Be this as it may, Colo- 
nel Cass was immediately ordered to abandon the 
post he had captured, and return to the army, which 
of course he immediately did. From this time, 
Colonel Cass seems to have lost all confidence in 
General Hull, and to have been able to exert no in- 
fluence on him. Hull appears to have separated 
himself entirely from the officers of his command, 
and to have acted, to use the mildest words, blindly 
and improvidently. 

After frittering away several weeks in perfect in- 
activity, Hull retraced his steps to Detroit, in con- 
sequence it was said, of the interruption of his plans 
by the capture of the post of Michillimacinac. The 
circumstances of this were so strange, as to merit a 
particular notice. This post, situated on an island 
at the eastern extremity of the straits of Macinac, 
connecting Lakes Michigan and Huron, though an 
important depot of the American fur-trade, was gar- 
risoned by fifty-six men, commanded by Lieutenant 
Hanks of the United States artillery corps. Against 
it, a force of no less than six hundred British and 
Indians marched July 16th, and summoned the place 
to surrender. So remote was Macinac from the 
inhabited parts of the United States, that the com- 
mandant had as yet received no intimation of the 
existence of .war; and, consequently, unprepared 
for defence, the young commandant capitulated. 

The blame for this scandalous affair rested with 
Hull, who should immediatelv have communicated 
3* 



30 L I F E O F 

to all the commanders on the frontier, the existence 
of war. Had he done so, there is every reason to 
believe, that Hanks, who was a very gallant and 
competent officer, would have been able to maintain 
himself. That Hull could have done so, is proven 
by the fact that the British commandant of St. Jo- 
seph's, whence the enemy's expedition moved, had 
been informed of all that occurred by Sir Isaac 
Brock, who was at least as distant from the two 
posts as General Hull. The partisans of the latter 
maintained that the consequences of the capture of 
Michillimacinac would have been the irruption of 
all the northern tribes, headed* by the British North- 
west Company's officers, and the impossibility of 
holding Maiden. This does not however appear to 
be the case, for no feeble garrison like Hanks's could 
for a moment have withstood this force, and in case 
of such an invasion, the possession of Maiden was 
indispensable to the United States, and Hull should 
have been doubly diligent in efforts to obtain it. 

Every thing tends to show, that Hull, if he was 
ever serious in his demonstrations on Maiden, was 
now delighted at an excuse for abandoning them. 

T • • • 

His preparations had been conducted in the most 
dilatory manner, so that by the first of August only 
two twenty-four pound guns and three howitzers 
had been mounted. At that time, however, a coun- 
cil of w 7 ar was called, which recommended an im- 
mediate attack. About this crisis, the Canada 
militia began to desert, and the whole country was 
buoyant with expectation of a brilliant result. 

About this time, a company of Ohio volunteers 
arrived at the mouth of the Raisin with army sup- 
plies, and as the route thence to Detroit was much 
exposed, Major Van Horn, with one hundred and 
fifty men, was sent to meet them. This officer, on 
his second day's march, near the village of Browns- 
town, was attacked by an overwhelming force of 
British and Indians, which, after a very sharp con- 



GENERAL CAS?. 31 

test, he beat off', though with the loss of nineteen 
killed and missing, and nine wounded. Among the 
killed were three officers, Captains Gilcrease, 
McCulloch, and Bosler, and Captain Ulry was se- 
verely wounded. 

In the council of war, Colonel Cass had warmly 
espoused the proposition of an immediate attack on 
Maiden, and therefore was amazed and disappointed 
when he learned that the general proposed, not only 
to abandon his attack on Maiden, but to fall back 
from his then position to Detroit. This was to de- 
sert the enterprise and to expose the Canadians who 
had joined him to certain ruin. Though, since the 
affair at Aux Canards, there had been little har- 
mony and intercourse between the general and 
himself, Colonel Cass remonstrated bitterly, but in 
vain. The army then crossed the river and re-oc- 
cupied Detroit. 

Words cannot express the indignation of the army 
at this step. All their hopes were blasted, and they 
gave vent to their discontent in murmurs, which 
would have led to mutiny but for the great efforts 
of their officers. All were dissatisfied, and the only 
difference was that one-half charged him with cow- 
ardice, and the other with treason or incompetency. 
Possibly it would have been better if a decided step 
had then been taken, and communication had with 
the authorities to supersede Hull. During his long 
inactivity in Canada, the provisions had been con- 
sumed, and it became absolutely necessary to open 
the communication with the convoy at the mouth 
of the river Raisin, commanded by Captain Brush, 
which the gallant Major Vanhorn had been unable 
to reach. Lieutenant-colonel James Miller of the 
4th, distinguished at Tippecanoe, was sent on an 
expedition to effect a junction. But though the vic- 
tor in a brilliant affair at a place called Magaugua, 
near Brownstown, to which he forced the enemy to 



32 L I F E O F 

retire, and which he occupied, Colonel Miller was 
forced to return to Detroit. 

Disaster after disaster now occurred. Among 
others was the capture of Captain Heald, recently 
commander of Chicago, which he had been ordered 
to abandon, while en route to Detroit, by a force of 
British and Indians. Brilliant as the affair of Ma- 
gaugua had been, for Colonel Miller had beaten 
Muir's regulars by a decisive bayonet charge, and 
was only checked in his career by the great efforts 
of Tecumseh, who in person commanded the Indians, 
it had led to nothing, and an order was sent to Brush 
to remain where lie was until a communication could 
be opened with him, by crossing the Huron river at 
a higher point. To effect this, Colonels Cass and 
McArthur, at the head of a formidable column, left 
Detroit on the 14th. On the 15th, the British took 
possession of a position immediately opposite to De- 
troit, and set about the erection of their batteries 
At this crisis, Major Denny, who had been left in 
command of Sandwich, with orders, however, to 
act entirely on the defensive, crossed over to Detroit. 
On the 16th the following summons was forwarded 
by General Brock to the American commander. 

" Sir — The forces at my disposal authorize me to 
require of you the surrender of Detroit. It is far 
from my inclination to join in a war of extermina- 
tion, but you must be aware that the numerous body 
of Indians w T ho have attached themselves to my 
troops will be beyond my control the moment the 
contest commences. You will find me disposed to 
enter into such conditions as will satisfy the most 
scrupulous sense of honour. Lieutenant-colonel 
M'Donald and Major Glegg are fully authorized to 
enter into any arrangements that may tend to pre- 
vent the unnecessary effusion of blood. 

Isaac Brock, Major General." 



GENERAL CASS. 33 

To this summons a reply was made that the fort 
would be defended to the last extremity ; immedi- 
ately on the reception of which the British batteries 
opened their fire. The American batteries at once 
returned it, but on either side it was without 
effect. 

In the morning the British troops landed at Spring 
Wells, and it was impossible to molest them from 
the fort, because the town lay between it and the 
point of debarkation. More than one of Hull's 
officers had foreseen this, and urged him to erect 
batteries at the landing, which if he had done would 
effectually have prevented it. 

What followed is thus described by an able writer: 

" The enemy having landed, about ten o'clock ad- 
vanced towards the fort in close column, and twelve 
deep. The fort being separated from the town by 
an open space of about two hundred yards, they 
would be enabled to approach within this distance 
before its guns could be brought to bear upon them, 
unless they could approach in the rear. The Ame- 
rican force was, however, judiciously disposed to 
prevent their advance. The militia, and a great 
part of the volunteers, occupied the town, or were 
posted behind pickets, whence they could annoy the 
enemy's flanks; the regulars defended the fort, and 
two twenty-four pounders, charged with grape, 
were advantageously posted on an eminence, and 
could sweep the whole of the enemy's line, as he 
advanced. All was now silent expectation : the 
daring foe still slowly moved forward, apparently 
regardless, or unconscious of their danger ; for their 
destruction must have been certain, had they not 
been impressed with contempt for a commander 
who had so meanly abandoned Sandwich a few days 
before. The hearts of our countrymen beat high at 
the near prospect of regaining their credit. But 
who can describe the chagrin and mortification 
which took possession of these troops, when orders 



34 LIFE OF 

were issued for them to retire to the fort ; and the 
artillery, at the very moment when it was thought 
the British were deliberately advancing to the most 
certain destruction, was ordered not to fire ! The 
whole force, together with a great number of wo- 
men and children, was gathered into the fort, almost 
too narrow to contain them. Here the troops were 
ordered to stack their arms, and, to the astonish- 
ment of every one, a white flag, in token of sub- 
mission, was suspended from the walls. A British 
officer rode up to ascertain the cause. A capitula- 
tion was agreed to, without even stipulating the 
terms. Words are wanting to express the feelings 
of the Americans on this occasion ; they considered 
themselves basely betrayed in thus surrendering to 
an inferior force without firing a gun, when they 
were firmly convinced that that force was in their 
power. They had provisions for at least fifteen 
days, and were provided with all the requisite mu- 
nitions of war. They were compelled, thus humi- 
liated, to march out and to surrender themselves 
prisoners at discretion. The British took immedi- 
ate possession of the fort, with all the public pro- 
perty it contained ; amongst which there were forty 
barrels of powder, four hundred rounds of fixed 
twenty-four pound shot, one hundred thousand ball 
cartridges, two thousand five hundred stand of arms, 
twenty-five pieces of iron cannon, and eight of brass, 
the greater number of which had been captured by 
the Americans during the revolutionary war. 

" The whole territory, and all the forts and garri- 
sons of the United States, within the district of the 
general, were also formally surrendered : and the 
detachment under colonels Cass and M* Arthur, as 
wi-il as the party under Captain Brush, were in- 
cluded in the capitulation. Orders had been de- 
spatched the evening before, for the detachment 
under Cass and M'Arthur to return, and they had 
approached almost sufficiently near to discover the 



GENERAL CASS. 35 

movements of the enemy, while their accidental 
situation might enable them to render the most ma- 
terial service during the attack. They were sur- 
prised at the silence which prevailed, when every 
moment was expected to announce the conflict ; 
and that surprise was soon changed into rage, when 
they iearned the capitulation. A British officer was 
then despatched to the river Raisin, to convey the 
intelligence to Captain Brush, who at first gave no 
credit to so improbable a tale, and actually put the 
officer in confinement. The melancholy story was, 
however, soon confirmed by some Americans who 
had escaped. Captain Brush indignantly refused to 
submit to the capitulation, declaring that Hull imd 
no right to include him, and determined to return 
to the state of Ohio. He first deliberated whether 
he should destroy the public stores which he had in 
his possession, and which he could not carry away ; 
but reflecting that this might be used as a pre tost 
for harsh treatment to his countrymen, he resolved 
to abandon them. The greater part of the volun- 
teers and militia were permitted to return home ; 
but the regulars, together with the general, were 
taken to Quebec. 

" In his official despatch, Hull took great pains to 
free his conduct from censure. In swelling the ac- 
count of the dangers with which he conceived him- 
self beset, every idle rumour which had operated 
on his fears was placed under contribution, while 
his imagination conjured up a thousand frightful 
phantoms. He magnified the reinforcements under 
Colonel Proctor, and gave implicit belief to the 
story that the whole force of the Northwestern Fur 
Company, under Major Chambers, was approach- 
ing; nothing, in fact, was forgotten which could 
heighten the picture, or tend to take the blame from 
him. While on the Canada side, it was impossible 
to effect anything against Maiden, from the difficulty 
of transporting his artillery. Everything is difficult 



36 LIFE OF 

to a man who wants the necessary talents. The 
British garrison had been wonderfully strengthened, 
and at this critical moment, General Hall, of Nia- 
gara, announced that it was not in his power to 
assist him. What then could be done but to cross 
over to Detroit? that is, to abandon the inhabitants 
of Canada, who had placed themselves under his 
protection ; to fly before the enemy had even at- 
tempted to attack or molest him, and thus encourage 
them in what they would never probably have 
thought it possible to accomplish. 

" But what appears most to figure, in this attempt- 
ed vindication, is the frightful display of Indian 
auxiliaries. The whole ' Northern hive,' as he 
called it, was let loose : Winnebagos, Wyandots, 
Hurons, Chippeways, Knistenoos, and Algonquins, 
Pottowatomies, Sacs, and Kickapoos, were swarm- 
ing in the neighboring woods, and concealed behind 
every bush, ready to rush to the indiscriminate 
slaughter of the Americans. He represented his 
situation, at the moment of surrender, as most de- 
plorable. In consequence of the absence of Colonels 
Cass and M'Arthur, he could not bring more than 
six hundred men into the field, and he was, more- 
over, destitute of all necessary supplies and muni- 
tions of war : yet, by the morning's report, his force 
exceeded a thousand men fit for duty, besides the 
detachment which might be expected to arrive, 
about the time of the engagement ; and also three 
hundred Michigan militia, who were out on duty, 
which would make his force upwards of sixteen 
hundred. This force was much superior to that of 
the British, which consisted of about seven hundred 
regulars, one-half of which was nothing more than 
militia dressed in uniform, for the purpose of decep- 
tion, and about six hundred Indians. Every other 
part of his statement was proved, by the officers 
under his command, to have been incorrect, or ex- 
aggerated. The most ordinary exertion would have 



GENERAL CASS. 6i 

sufficed, to have completely destroyed the British 
force. He declared, that he was actuated by a de- 
sire to spare the effusion of human blood! If he 
had designedly intended the destruction of his fellow 
citizens, he could not have fallen upon a more un- 
fortunate measure ; for, by thus opening the frontier 
to the tomahawk of the savage, and giving reasons 
to our enemy for representing us as contemptible in 
arms, he invited those very savages, which he so 
much dreaded, to throw off every restraint, and de- 
clare themselves our foes. He might have foreseen, 
that a considerable force would be sent by the Bri- 
tish, for the purpose of retaining this province, and 
that our country would be compelled to suffer an 
immense expense of blood and treasure, before our 
possessions here could be regained. Although this 
afterwards became the theatre of war, where many 
of our countrymen gained military renown, yet the 
effect of this lamentable occurrence was visible in 
every subsequent transaction on the borders of 
Canada." 

The plan of surrender very nearly failed. The 
officers were disgusted, and it was seriously pro- 
posed to arrest Hull, and defend the post without 
him. Three, however, of the four officers next in 
rank to Gen. Hull, were absent, viz. : McArthur, 
Cass, and Miller; and the others shrank from so 
high and delicate a responsibility. The fact of the 
case was, that, knowing those officers disapproved 
of his course, they were kept almost constantly on 
detached service. 

When the surrender was reported to Col. Cass, he 
broke his sword in despair, refusing to surrender it. 
The first idea of Cass and McArthur was to effect 
their return home ; but, on an examination of the 
difficulties, it appeared impossible, and they reluc- 
tantly submitted. 

The British commander having permitted the 
volunteers to return home, Col. Cass was ordered 
4 



38 L I F E O F 

by his senior, Col. McArlhur, to repair to the seat 
of government, and report the circumstances to the 
authorities. While there, he wrote two letters, 
which unfold his ideas of all the circumstances, and 
which are valuable, because they give his plain, and 
certainly unvarnished, opinion of the most unfortu- 
nate accident which ever befel the American arms. 
The race at Bladensburg, and capture of Washing- 
ton, were victories compared with it. 

Washington, Sept. 10th, 1812. 

Sir, — Having been ordered on to this place by 
Colonel M' Arthur, for the purpose of communicating 
to the government such particulars respecting the 
expedition lately commanded by Brigadier-General 
Hull and its disastrous result, as might enable them 
correctly to appreciate the conduct of the officers 
and men, and to develope the causes which pro- 
duced so foul a stain upon the national character, I 
have the honour to submit for your consideration 
the following statement: 

When the forces landed in Canada, they landed 
with an ardent zeal and stimulated with the hope 
of conquest. No enemy appeared within view of 
us, and had an immediate and vigorous attack been 
made upon Maiden, it would doubtless have fallen 
an easy victory. I knew General Hull afterwards 
declared he regretted this attack had not been made, 
and he had every reason to believe success would 
have crowned his efforts. The reason given for de- 
laying our operations was to mount our heavy can- 
non, and to afford to the Canadian militia time and 
opportunity to quit an obnoxious service. In the 
course of two weeks the number of their militia who 
were embodied had decreased by desertion from six 
hundred to one hundred men; and, in the course 
of three weeks, the cannon were mounted, the am- 
munition fixed, and every preparation made for an 
immediate investment of the fort. At a council, at 



GENERAL CASS. 39 

which were present all the field officers, and which 
was held two days before our preparations were 
completed, it was unanimously agreed to make an 
immediate attempt to accomplish the object of the 
expedition. If by waiting two days we could have 
the service of our heavy artillery, it was agreed to 
wait; if not, it was determined to go without it and 
attempt the place by storm. This opinion appeared 
to correspond with the views of the general, and the 
day was appointed for commencing our march. He 
declared to me that he considered himself pledged 
to lead the armv to Maiden. The ammunition was 
placed in the wagons; the cannon were embarked 
on board the floating batteries, and every requisite 
was prepared. The spirit and zeal, the ardour and 
animation displayed by the officers and mm on learn- 
ing the near accomplishment of their wishes, were a 
sure and sacred pledge, that in the hour of trial they 
would not be found wanting in duty to their coun- 
try and themselves. But a change of measures, in 
opposition to the wishes and opinions of all the offi- 
cers, was adopted by the general. The plan of 
attacking Maiden was abandoned, and instead of 
acting offensively, we broke up our camp, evacuated 
Canada, and recrossed the river in the night, with- 
out even the shadow of an enemy to injure us. We 
left to the tender mercy of the enemy the miserable 
Canadians who had joined us, and the protection we 
afforded them was but a passport to vengeance. 
This fatal and unaccountable step dispirited the 
troops, and destroyed the little confidence which a 
series of timid, irresolute and indecisive measures 
had left in the commanding officer. 

About the tenth of August, the enemy received a 
reinforcement of four hundred men. On the twelfth 
the commanding officers of three of the regiments 
(the fourth was absent) were informed through a 
medium which admitted of no doubt, that the gene- 
ral had stated that a capitulation would be neces- 



40 LIFE OF 

sary. They on the same day addressed to governor 
Meigs of Ohio a letter, of which the following is an 
extract : 

" Believe all the bearer will tell you. Believe it, 
however it may astonish you, as much as if told by 

one of us. Even a c is talked of by the . 

The bearer will fill the vacancy." 

The doubtful fate of this letter rendered it neces- 
sary to use circumspection in its details, and there- 
fore the blanks were left. The word " capitulation" 
will fill the first, and " commanding general" the 
other. As no enemy was near us, and as the supe- 
riority of our force was manifest, we could see no 
necessity for capitulating, nor any propriety in al- 
luding to it. We therefore determined in the last 
resort to incur the responsibility of divesting the 
general of his command. This plan was eventually 
prevented, by two of the commanding officers of re- 
giments being ordered upon detachments. 

On the 13th, the British took a position opposite 
to Detroit, and began to throw up works. During 
that and the two following days, they pursued their 
object without interruption, and established a bat- 
tery for two 18-pounders and an 8-inch howitzer. 
About sunset on the 14th, a detachment of 350 men 
from the regiments commanded by Colonel M' Arthur 
and myself was ordered to march to the river Rai- 
sin, to escort the provisions, which had some time 
remained there protected by a party under the com- 
mand of Captain Brush. 

On Saturday, the 15th, about 1 o'clock, a flag of 
truce arrived from Sandwich, bearing a summons 
from General Brock, for the surrender of the town 
and fort of Detroit, stating, he could no longer re- 
strain the furv of the savages. To this an imme- 
diate and spirited refusal was returned. About 4 
o'clock their batteries began to play upon the town. 
The fire was returned and continued without inter- 



GENERAL CASS. 41 

ruption and with little effect till dark. — Their shells 
were thrown till 11 o'clock. 

At daylight the firing on both sides recommenced; 
about the same time the enemy began to land troops 
at the Springwells, three miles below Detroit, pro- 
tected bv two of their armed vessels. Between 6 
and 7 o'clock, they had effected their landing and 
immediately took up their line of march. They 
moved in a close column of platoons, twelve in front, 
upon the bank of the river. 

The fourth regiment was stationed in the fort ; the 
Ohio volunteers and a part of the Michigan militia, 
behind some pickets, in a situation in which the 
whole flank of the enemy would have been exposed. 
The residue of the Michigan militia were in the up- 
per part of the town to resist the incursions of the 
savages. Two twenty-four pounders loaded with 
grape-shot were posted on a commanding eminence, 
ready to sweep the advancing column. In this situa- 
tion, the superiority of our position was apparent, 
and our troops, in the eager expectation of victory, 
awaited the approach of the enemy. Not a sigh of 
discontent broke upon the ear; not a look of coward- 
ice met the eye. Every man expected a proud day 
for his country, and each was anxious that his in- 
dividual exertion should contribute to the general 
result. 

When the head of their column arrived within 
about five hundred yards of our line, orders were 
received from General Hull for the whole to retreat 
to the fort, and for the twenty-four pounders not to 
open upon the enemy. One universal burst of in- 
dignation was apparent upon the receipt of this 
order. Those, whose conviction was the deliberate 
result of a dispassionate examination of passing 
events, saw the folly and impropriety of crowding 
1100 men into a little work, which 300 could fully 
man, and into which the shot and shells of the enemy 
were falling. The fort was in this manner filled ; 
4* 



42 L I F E O F 

the men were directed to stack their arms, and 
scarcely was an opportunity afforded of moving. 
Shortly after a white flag was hung out upon the 
walls. A British officer rode up to inquire the 
cause. A communication passed between the com- 
manding generals, which ended the capitulation 
submitted to you. In entering into this capitula- 
tion, the general took counsel from his own feelings 
only. Not an officer was consulted. Not one an- 
ticipated a surrender, till he saw the white flag dis- 
played. Even the women were indignant at so 
shameful a degradation of the American character, 
and all felt as they should have felt, but he who held 
in his hands the reins of authority. 

Our morning report had that morning made our 
effective men present fit for duty 1060, without in- 
cluding the detachment before alluded to, and with- 
out including 300 of the Michigan militia on duty. 
About dark on Saturday evening the detachment 
sent to escort the provisions received orders from 
General Hull to return with as much expedition as 
possible. About 10 o'clock the next day they ar- 
rived within sight of Detroit. Had a firing been 
heard, or any resistance visible, they would have 
immediately advanced and attacked the rear of the 
enemy. The situation in which this detachment 
was placed, although the result of accident, was the 
best for annoying the enemy and cutting off his re- 
treat that could have been seleeted. With his raw 
troops enclosed between two fires and no hopes of 
succour, it is hazarding little to say, that very few 
would have escaped. 

I have been informed by Colonel Findley, who 
saw the return of the quarter-master-general the 
day after the surrender, that their whole force of 
every description, white, red and black, was 1030. 
They had twenty-nine platoons, twelve in a pla- 
toon, of men dressed in uniform. Many of these 
were evidently Canadian militia. The rest of their 



GENERAL CASS. 4«£ 

militia increased their white force to about seven 
hundred men. The number of the Indians could 
not be ascertained with any degree of precision ; 
not many were visible. And in the event of an at- 
tack upon the town and fort, it was a species of 
force which could have afforded no material advan- 
tage to the enemy. 

In endeavouring to appreciate the motives and to 
investigate the causes which led to an event so un- 

O ... 

expected and dishonourable, it is impossible to find 
any solution in the relative strength of the contend- 
ing parties, or in the measures of resistance in our 
power. That we were far superior to the enemy ; 
that upon any ordinary principles of calculation we 
would have defeated them, the wounded and indig- 
nant feelings of every man there will testify. 

A few days before the surrender, I was informed 
by General Hull, we had 400 rounds of !24-pound 
shot fixed and about 100,000 cartridges made. We 
surrendered with the fort 40 barrels of powder and 
2500 stand of arms. 

The state of our provisions has not been generally 
understood. On the day of the surrender we had 
fifteen days of provisions of every kind on hand. 
Of meat there was plenty in the country, and ar- 
rangements had been made for purchasing and grind- 
ing the flour. It was calculated we could readily 
procure three month's provisions, independent of 150 
barrels of flour, and 1300 head of cattle which had 
been forwarded from the State of Ohio, which re- 
mained at the river Raisin under Captain Brush, 
with in reach of the army. 

But had we been totally destitute of provisions, 
our duty and our interest undoubtedly was to fight. 
The enemy invited us to meet him in the field. 

By defeating him the whole country would have 
been open to us, and the object of our expedition 
gloriously and successfully obtained. If we had 
been defeated we had nothing to do but to retreat 



44 L I F E O F 

to the fort, and make the best defence which cir- 
cumstances and our situation rendered practicable. 
But basely to surrender without firing a gun — 
tamely to submit without raising a bayonet — dis- 
gracefully to pass in review before an enemy as in- 
ferior in the quality as in the number of his forces, 
were circumstances, which excited feelings of in- 
dignation more easily felt than described. To see 
the whole of our men flushed with the hope of vic- 
tory, eagerly awaiting the approaching contest, to 
see them afterwards dispirited, hopeless and de- 
sponding, at least 500 shedding tears, because they 
were not allowed to meet their country's foe, and 
to fight their country's battles, excited sensations, 
which no American has ever before had cause to 
feel, and which, I trust in God, will never again be 
felt, w T hile one man remains to defend the standard 
of the Union. 

I am expressly authorised to state, that Colonel 
McArthur and Colonel Findley, and Lieutenant- 
Colonel Miller viewed this transaction in the light 
which 1 do. They know and feel, that no circum- 
stance in our situation, none in that of the enemy, 
can excuse a capitulation so dishonourable and un- 
justifiable. This too is the universal sentiment 
among the troops; and I shall be surprised to learn, 
that there is one man, who thinks it was necessary 
to sheath his sword, or lay down his musket. 

I was informed by General Hull the morning after 
the capitulation, that the British forces consisted 
of 1800 regulars, and that he surrendered to pre- 
vent the effusion of human blood. That he magni- 
fied their regular force nearly five-fold, there can 
be no doubt. Whether the philanthropic reason 
assigned by him is a sufficient justification for sur- 
rendering a fortified town, an army and a territory, 
is for the government to determine. Confident I 
am, that had the courage and conduct of the gene- 
ral been equal to the spirit and zeal of the troops, 



GENERAL CASS. 



45 



the event would have been brilliant and successful 
as it now is disastrous and dishonourable. 

Very respectfully, sir, I have the honour to be, 
your most obedient servant, 

LEWIS CASS, 

Col. 3d Regiment Ohio Volunteers. 

The Hon. William Eustis, 

Secretary of War. 

This letter to the Secretary of War having at- 
tracted much attention and comment, Colonel Cass 
became involved in a correspondence with the Hon. 
Richard Rush, which we also give entire. 

Gentlemen — I transmit you for publication the 
enclosed letter, politely and without solicitation ad- 
dressed to me by Mr. Rush. 

So far as respects myself personally, the tale it 
' refutes merits no consideration and would meet no 
attention. Whether I am incompetent to the task 
of relating plain facts, many of which I saw, and 
on all of which I had the feelings and information 
of hundreds to guide me, is a question of no import- 
ance to the public, and of no interest to the editors 
of those papers who have asserted or insinuated it. 
But it is deeply interesting to their passions and 
pursuits, that every account which tends to exone- 
rate the government from all participation in the 
event of an expedition feebly conducted, and in a 
capitulation dishonourably concluded, should be as- 
sailed openly and covertly. I was aware, that every 
man, who should attempt, by a disclosure of the 
truth, to communicate correct information, must ex- 
pect to have his motives impugned and his character 
assailed by all the rancour of malignity and eager- 
ness of party. As I felt no disposition to court, so 
I trust there was no necessity for avoiding an inves- 
tigation like that. I had witnessed the irritation of 
feeling and the latitude of observation in many pa- 



46 L I F E O F 

pers in the country. The terms "conscripts/' "a 
little still-born army," and every injurious and op- 
probrious epithet, which party zeal could lavish 
upon western patriotism and enterprise, I had ob- 
served with regret, but without surprise. But I 
had to learn, that the editor of a newspaper upon 
his own responsibility would propagate a tale so 
false and unqualified, as that in the United States Ga- 
zette of — October last. The letter transmitted will 
show what credit is due to the assertion of men, 
who can discover little to condemn in an enemy's 
government, less to approve in their own. 

I cannot resist the present opportunity of placing 
in its proper point of view, a transaction misrepre- 
sented with all the virulence of faction. The capi- 
tulation for the surrender of Detroit contained no 
stipulation allowing the commanding officer to for- 
ward to his government an account of the causes 
which produced, and of the circumstances w 7 hich 
attended, so unexpected an event. The command- 
ing officer himself became an unconditional prisoner 
of war. His liberation, or the intelligence he might 
communicate to his own government, depended on 
the interest or caprice of the enemy. In this situa- 
tion, on the arrival of Colonel McArthur within the 
jurisdiction of the United States, he became the se- 
nior officer of those troops, which, by the capitula- 
tion, were permitted to return home, and as such it 
became a matter of duty to report himself to the 
government, and of propriety to communicate to 
them all the intelligence in his power. For this pur- 
pose the second officer in command present was or- 
dered to repair to the seat of government. On his 
arrival he found the rumour of the disaster had pre- 
ceded him, and that information was anxiously and 
impatiently expected. Public report had informed 
the government that they had lost a fort, an army, 
and a territory, but of the remote or direct causes 
which occasioned it, of the situation of their own 



OENEiiAL CASS. 47 

troops, or of the designs of the enemy, they were 
profoundly ignorant. Were they in this situation 
fastidiously to reject profferred information, and con- 
tinue wilfully ignorant of a transaction so striking 
in its features, and so important in. its consequences 
to the peace and character of the nation ? Or were 
they not compelled by duty to seek every means of in- 
formation, in order with promptitude to repair the evil, 
and with vigilance prevent the repetition of a simi- 
lar one? Their duty surely cannot be mistaken by 
the most bigoted zealot of party. The act then of 
communicating intelligence and that of receiving it, 
was not merely neutral but commendable. Whether 
the officer upon whom this task devolved executed 
it well or ill, must be left for an enlightened com- 
munity to determine. It was a duty over which the 
government had no control. As he gave it they 
must receive it, neither accountable for the manner 
nor the accuracy of his relation. 

The question which has been so ably discussed, 
whether this statement is official, in itself a very clear 
one, will become important and interesting, when 
disputes about words shall again agitate the feelings 
and divide the opinions of the world. Until then, 
it is cheerfully relinquished to those who have so 
learnedly investigated it. 

That an officer, in his report, must confine himself 
to those facts which passed within his own observa- 
tion, and to which he could testify in a court of jus- 
tice, is among the novel and extraordinary preten- 
sions to which this communication has given birth. 
Meagre indeed would be every similar statement, 
were such a principle correct in theory or supported 
by practice. In a complicated transaction, it would 
present but a skeleton of a report, omitting many 
interesting details essential to a correct view of the 
subject, and necessary in the succession of facts 
which connect causes with their consequences. It 
would require almost a« many reports as there were 



48 LIFE OF 

actors, and instead of a faithful sketch by a single 
hand, a motley and discordant group of objects 
would meet the eye, exciting little interest and con- 
veying little information. But, independent of any 
speculative view which may be taken of the subject, 
it is sufficient to refer every candid and dispassionate 
observer to the reports of military transactions 
which daily appear in our own and in other coun- 
tries. The futility of the objection will be at once 
exposed, for it will be found that a report is seldom, 
if ever, made without violating this rule, for the first 
time applied as a standard to the statement of an 
officer of the most important military event which 
had occurred for many years in the history of his 
country. 

The propriety of publishing such a report remains 
only to be investigated. In a government founded 
on the power and supported by the confidence of the 
people, the right of the public to receive informa- 
tion on all national transactions is too clear to re- 
quire support or to fear denial. Whether a battle 
be won or lost; whether the event be brilliant or 
disastrous, the duty of communicating and the right 
of claiming information remain still the same. Four 
weeks after the surrender of an important post, while 
the public mind is agitated and public expectation 
alive, the government receive from an officer dis- 
patched by the senior officer within their jurisdic- 
tion and subject to their control, a statement of the 
circumstances which preceded and accompanied the 
transaction. Two weeks would have been sufficient 
for the commanding officer to have forwarded his 
dispatches, had the capitulation conferred on him 
the right or the enemy the favour of doing it, imme- 
diately subsequent to the surrender. The govern- 
ment had a right to conclude the privilege was re- 
fused bv them or the duty omitted by him. That 

» WW 

portion of the troops, which, by the capitulation, 
was to be conveyed to the United States, afforded a 



GENERAL CASS. 49 

secure opportunity for this purpose. This having 
failed, it became uncertain at what period his com- 
munication would be received. Were the govern- 
ment then to withhold the information they pos- 
sessed, because that information attributed the fail- 
ure of the expedition to its commanding officer? 
The character of the nation, the reputation of the 
government, and of every individual embarked in 
that expedition, were involved in its issue. Was it 
of no importance, by a correct disclosure of facts, 
to redeem the public character and feelings ? Was 
it of no importance, by placing in its proper point 
of view the features of the transaction, to show that 
the boasts of the enemy were as vain as their con- 
quest was bloodless ? To prove to our country that 
her sons might yet be led on to battle and perhaps 
to victory ? The government, too, had a reputation 
to lose. That reputation was eagerly assailed. The 
failure of the expedition was attributed to the want 
of preparation, and the measures respecting it were 
characterised as imbecile and ignorant. The for- 
bearance demanded was far from being granted. So 
far as respects the commanding officer, the details 
of an unfortunate expedition must be shrouded in 
Delphic obscurity, and the public await in dubious 
suspense the tedious process of military investiga- 
tion. But every little nameless paper is at liberty 
to display its brilliant wit and sarcastic remarks at 
the expense of those who planned and ordered the 
expedition. Their reputation awaits the result of 
no trial. They must be offered up an expiatory 
sacrifice upon the altar of public indignation. The 
contemplated investigation, which is ultimately to 
determine the respective measure of merit and of 
blame, here becomes unnecessary. Its result is an- 
ticipated with that confidence which ought only to 
be inspired by an accurate knowledge of the attend- 
ant circumstances. To require in such a situbtion 
a studious concealment of those facts which would 
5 



50 LIFE OF 

enable the public correctly to appreciate the conduct 
of all, is to require a species of forbearance as little 
suited to the practice as to the duties of life. 

I am aware, that nothing which can be said upon 
this subject will with many carry conviction, or 
produce acknowledgment. The most obvious con- 
siderations of reason and of justice will be over- 
looked. Such, in the conflicts of opinion and the 
collisions of party, has always been the case. But 
truth will ultimately prevail, and the public will 
eventually be enabled correctly to estimate the con- 
duct of all who have had any agency in a transac- 
tion so deeply interesting to their character and 
feelings. 

LEWIS CASS. 

November 20, 1812. 

Washington, November 3, 1812. 

Dear Sir — It was not until after I last had the 
pleasure to see you, and for some time after you left 
Washington, that the foolish insinuation, which has 
appeared in some of the newspapers, of my having 
been concerned in writing the letter you addressed 
to the Secretary of War, first came to my ears ; nor 
have I, to this day, seen the insinuation in print. I 
would have contradicted it at once but that it 
seemed to me quite superfluous, and that it would be 
to confer a notice upon it which its idle character 
did not deserve. In what so strange an untruth 
could have originated, I am sure I know not ; nei- 
ther can I divest myself of embarrassment in thus 
troubling you with a line about it. I have not yet 
heard it said that I wrote the address you delivered 
to the volunteers of Ohio in the spring, before I ever 
had the pleasure to see or to know you ; and yet, it 
is certain, that I wrote as much of that as I did of 
your letter to the Secretary of War. 

I pincerely hope your health has been re-estab- 
lished since vou left Washington, and that to other 
en uses of regret connected with vour march to De- 



a ENEHA L C ASS. 51 

troit, there will not be added that of any permanent 
injury to your constitution. 

Believe me, dear sir, with great respect and 
esteem, your obedient servant. 

RICHARD RUSH. 

Colonel Cass. 

During the winter Colonel Cass was exchanged, 
and soon afterwards appointed a Colonel of the 
27th Regiment of Infantry, and subsequently was 
promoted to the grade of Brigadier General in the 
army of the United States. Hull, in his report to 
the Secretary of War, had exonerated Colonel Cass 
and his associates, McArthur, Findley, and Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Miller, from all censure, taking the 
exclusive responsibility on himself. This was but 
just, for in the whole affair he had consulted no one, 
and acted contrary to the known opinions of his 
officers. The services of these officers were appre- 
ciated, and, December 28, 1812, governor Meigs 
transmitted to them the thanks of the Legislature, 
which, by a vote of the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives, he was instructed to do. 

This terminated the connection of Colonel Cass 
with Hull's army. The future career of that general 
is well known, and the country approved both of 
the sentence and of his pardon. 



52 LIFE OF 



CHAPTER III. 

Joins General Harrison's army — Moves to the Frontier — Crosses 
into Canada — Advance — Battle of the Thames, etc. — Cass 
complimented by General Harrison — Anecdotes — Governor 
of Michigan. 

Soon after his appointment as a brigadier-general, 
Cass joined General Harrison at Seneca, the place 
of rendezvous for the army destined to recover the 
north-west territory and invade Canada. While at 
this point. General Cass was busily employed in 
preparatory arrangements, until General Harrison, 
who was in command, commenced his movement, 
which was on the 17th of September, 1813: on this 
day the venerable and distinguished Governor Shelby 
arrived at the head of four thousand volunteers from 
his state, Kentucky, anxious to avenge their friends 
and countrymen who had been so cruelly slaughter- 
ed at the River Raisin, after their surrender on the 
22d of January. 

The brilliant naval victory of Commodore Perry, 
having opened the Lake, General Harrison deter- 
mined to embark his infantry in transports, and to 
send the horse by land to Detroit. In consequence 
of the immense preparation necessary to place on 
shipboard a whole army, the troops were not em- 
barked until the 27th, and on the next day sailed 
fr6m Put-in-bay to the Western Sister, a small island 
near Maiden. In the mean time, the British com- 
mander evacuated Detroit and Maiden, after de- 
stroying the munitions of war and other stores, and 
retreated up the valley of the Thames, being accom- 
panied by Tecumseh's Indians. The debarkation 



GENERAL CASS. 53 

was effected without difficulty, under the immediate 
direction of General Cass, assisted by Commodore 
Perry, who, unable to find an enemy on his own ele- 
ment, had landed in search of new laurels, and now 
served as an aid-de-camp of General Harrison. Com- 
modore Elliot was also present, and rendered effi- 
cient services. A rapid move was made on Detroit, 
which was reached on the 29th, and on the 30th the 
regiment of Colonel Johnson, which had been de- 
layed one day at the Raisin in the pious labour of 
burying the victims of Proctor's inhuman massacre, 
arrived. 

General Harrison and Governor Shelby now 
marched in pursuit of Proctor, with a picked force 
of thirty-five hundred men, selected from Ball's 
dragoons, Johnson's irregular horse, and Shelby's 
volunteers. General Cass was present, and con- 
tributed much to the success of the expedition, as he 
was now acknowledged as one of the notables of the 
west. They set out on the 29th of September, and 
on the next day captured a lieutenant of. the ene- 
my's dragoons, from whom they learned that Proctor 
had not heard of their advance. On the 4th of Oc- 
tober, the army reached Chatham, about seventeen 
miles from Lake St. Clair, on one of the tributaries 
of the Thames, driving the enemy before them. 
The latter, when they retired, had destroyed the 
bridge ; and while it was being repaired, the Indians, 
under Tecumseh, made an attack on the advance, 
but were at once dispersed by the artillery of Colo- 
nel Wood and Colonel Johnson's horse. At this 
place the American army captured two thousand 
stand of arms, a vast quantity of clothing, and drove 
the enemy for four miles before them. On the 5th, 
the pursuit was renewed, and the last camp of the 
enemy passed. Thence Colonel Wood was detached 
to reconnoitre, and soon returned with information 
that General Proctor had prepared for battle in a 
strong position, a few miles distant. This position 
5* 



54 L I F E O P 

lay between a swamp and the river : immediately 
on the latter was the British left, where their artil- 
lery was posted, with the reverse flank on the 
swamp. Beyond the swamp were the Indians of 
Tecumseh. The position was very strong, and had 
no weak point, except that it was peculiarly open 
to a cavalry charge, and that the infantry w r as 
drawn up in open order. Proctor's force consisted 
of eight hundred regulars and two thousand Indians. 

The American troops were more numerous, but 
the mass of them were untried men ; while every 
man in the British and Indian army had been often 
under fire. 

General Harrison placed Trotter's brigade in the 
front line, General King's in the second, and kept 
Miles' brigade as a reserve. The three were com- 
manded by Major-General Henry. Another divi- 
sion, commanded by General Desha, was formed at 
right angles, or as technical soldiers say, en potence, 
on the left of General Trotter's brigade. The whole 
regular force of General Harrison, one hundred and 
twenty strong, was formed in attacking columns to 
be directed against the enemy's artillery. The 
mounted force General Harrison had ordered to 
form in two lines opposed to the Indians, but struck 
with the debility of the portion of Proctor's infantry, 
and aware of the skill of the Kentuckians as marks- 
men and horsemen, he resolved to make one bat- 
talion a battle-piece to act against the British 
regulars. The other, commanded by Colonel John- 
son, was left to hold the Indians in check. This 
was a wise disposition, for the terror of the Indians 
at mounted men was notorious. It will be observed 
that General Cass had no command yet as a briga- 
dier of the regular service, he was, in case of acci- 
dent to General Harrison, undoubtedly entitled to 
command every one in the field except Generals 
Henry and Desha. 

Scarcely had these dispositions been made whei? 



GENERAL CASS. 



55 



the enemy opened their fire. This was the con- 
certed signal for the cavalry to charge, and though 
at first they halted under the heavy discharge of the 
British regulars, they almost immediately dashed 
through the enemy's line, and rallying in his rear, 
a second time crossed it. Each time before the 
charge they poured in a murderous fire. As Gene- 
ral Cass was at that time in the regular service, 
he had command of the small body of regulars in the 
field. At their head, however, was a distinguished 
officer, amply competent to lead them, and he there- 
fore threw himself on the left of the battalion of the 
mounted regiment, under the command of Lieuten- 
ant-Colonel Johnson, and shared with them in the 
decisive charge described above, which decided the 
day. This charge was unprecedented, and its 
success can only be accounted for on the grounds 
of the peculiarly faulty formation of Proctor's regu- 
lars, and the moral force which must always be 
exerted by the attack of a line of six hundred 
mounted men. Immediately on the reverse charge 
of Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson, the British regulars 
threw down their arms and fled in dismay. Proc- 
tor deserted his allies and abandoned all for lost. 
He was pursued immediately by a detachment 
under the orders of General Cass, and escaped, 
perhaps fortunately, for it is very doubtful if the 
orders of General Harrison and Governor Shelby, 
or even the great influence of Cass, would have 
saved from the infuriated Kentuckians the murderer 
of their kindred and countrymen. 

In the other position of the field the success was 
equally decided — Col. R. M. Johnson, having dis- 
persed the Indians, and killed, in personal contest, 
their chief, Tecumseh. This battle terminated the 
war in the northwest. Now came a season of bril- 
liant triumph to the American arms. Hundreds of 
prisoners were taken ; yet the massacre of the Rai- 
sin was not revenged. This victory placed General 



56 LIFE OF 

Harrison in a most enviable position; and in his 
despatches, he conferred the highest praise on Gen. 
Cass, who, it was notorious, had been most conspi- 
cuous in the events of the day. A thousand other 
witnesses also bore testimony to his gallantry — one 
of whom, after the lapse of twelve years, when, 
however, Gen. Cass was by no means the prominent 
man he has since become, thus expressed himself: 

" In the autumn of 1813, I well recollect General 
Cass, of the northwestern army, commanded by 
Harrison and Shelby. He was conspicuous at the 
landing of the troops upon the Canada shore, below 
Maiden, on the 27th of September, and conspicuous 
at the battle of the Thames, as the volunteer aid of 
the commanding general. I saw him in the midst 
of the battle, in the deep woods upon the banks of 
the Thames, during the roar and clangor of fire- 
arms, and savage yells of the enemy. Then I was 
a green youth of seventeen, and a volunteer from 
Kentucky." 

The following official despatches are important, 
as showing the instrumentality of Gen. Cass in the 
success of this contest : 

r 

Copy of a Letter from General Harrison to the De- 
partment of War. 

Head-quarters, near Moravian Town, on the River Thames, ~) 
80 miles from Detroit, 5th October, 1813. 5 

Sir — I have the honor to inform you, that bv the 
blessing of Providence, the army under my com- 
mand has this evening obtained a complete victory 
over the combined Indian and British forces under 
the command of General Proctor. I believe that 
nearly the whole of the enemy's regulars are taken 
or killed. Amongst the former are all the superior 
officers, excepting Gen. Proctor. My mounted men 
are now in pursuit of him. Our loss is very trifling. 
The brave Col. R. M. Johnson is the only officer 



GENERAL CASS. 57 

whom I have heard of that is wounded, he badly, 
but I hope not dangerously. 

I have the honor to be, with great respect, sir, 
your obedient, humble servant, 

WM. H. HARRISON. 

The Hon. John Armstrong, Sec'y at War. 

Copy of a Letter from Major- General Harrison to 
the Secretary of War. 

Head-quarters, Detroit, 9th Oct., 1813. 

Sir — In my letter from Sandwich, of the 30th 
ultimo, I did myself the honor to inform you, that I 
was preparing to pursue the enemy the following 
day. From various causes, however, I was unable 
to put the troops in motion until the morning of the 
2d instant, and then to take with me only about one 
hundred and forty of the regular troops, Johnson's 
mounted regiment, and such of Gov. Shelby's volun- 
teers as were fit for a rapid march, the whole 
amounting to about three thousand five hundred 
men. To Gen. McArthur, (with about 700 effect- 
ives,) the protecting of this place, and the sick, was 
committed. Gen. Cass's brigade, and the corps of 
Lieut. Col. Ball were left at Sandwich, with orders 
to follow me as soon as the men received their knap- 
sacks and blankets, which had been left on an island 
in Lake Erie. 

The unavoidable delay at Sandwich was attend- 
ed with no disadvantage to us. General Proctor 
had posted himself at Dalson's, on the right bank of 
the Thames, (or Trench,) fifty-six miles from this 
place, where I was informed he intended to fortify 
and wait to receive me. He must have believed, 
however, that I had no disposition to follow him, or 
that he had secured my continuance here, by the 
reports that were circulated that the Indians would 
attack and destroy this place upon the advance of 
the army; as he neglected to commence the break- 
no- up the bridges until the night of the 2d instant. 



58 LIFE OF 

On that night our army reached the river, which is 
twenty-five miles from Sandwich, and is one of four 
streams crossing our route, over all of which are 
bridges, and, being deep and muddy, are unforda- 
ble for a considerable distance into the country — the 
bridge here was found entire, and in the morning I 
proceeded with Johnson's regiment, to save, if pos- 
sible, the others. At the second bridge, over a 
branch of the river Thames, we were fortunate 
enough to capture a lieutenant of dragoons, and 
eleven privates, who had been sent by Gen. Proctor 
to destroy them. From the prisoners I learned that 
the third bridge was broken up, and that the enemy 
had no certain information of our advance. The 
bridge having been imperfectly destroyed, was soon 
repaired, and the army encamped at Drake's farm, 
four miles below Dalson's. 

The river Thames, along the banks of which our 
route lay, is a fine, deep stream, navigable for ves- 
sels of considerable burthen, after the passage of the 
bar at its mouth, over which there is six and a half 
feet water. 

The baggage of the army was brought from De- 
troit in boats, protected by three gun-boats, which 
Com. Perry had furnished for the purpose, as well 
as to cover the passage of the army over the Thames 
itself, or the mouths of its tributary streams ; the 
banks being low, and the country generally open, 
(prairies,) as high as Dalson's, these vessels were 
well calculated for that purpose. Above Dalson's, 
however, the character of the river and adjacent 
country is considerably changed. The former, 
though still deep, is very narrow, and its banks high 
and woody. The commodore and myself, therefore, 
agreed upon the propriety of leaving the boats undei 
a guard of one hundred and fifty infantry, and I de- 
termined to trust to fortune and the bravery of my 
troops to effect the passage of the river. Below a 
place called Chatham, and four miles above Dal- 



GENERALCASS. 59 

son's, is the third unfordable branch of the Thames. 
The bridge over its mouth had been taken up by the 
Indians, as well as that at McGregor's Mills, one 
mile above. Several hundred of the Indians re- 
mained to dispute our passage, and upon the arrival 
of the advanced suard, commenced a heavv fire from 
the opposite bank of the creek, as well as that of 
the river. Believing that the whole force of the 
enemy was there, I halted the army, formed in order 
of battle, and brought up our two six pounders to 
cover the party that were ordered to repair the 
bridge. A few shot, from those pieces, soon drove 
off the Indians, and enabled us, in two hours, to re- 
pair the bridge and cross the troops. Colonel John- 
son's mounted regiment being upon the right of the 
army, had seized the remains of the bridge, at the 
mills, under a heavy fire from the Indians. Our loss 
upon this occasion was, two killed and three or four 
wounded ; that of the enemy was ascertained to be 
considerably greater. A house near the bridge, con- 
taining a very considerable number of muskets, had 
been set on fire, but it was extinguished by our 
troops, and the arms saved. At the first farm above 
the bridge, we found one of the enemy's vessels on 
fire, loaded with arms and ordnance stores, and 
learned that they were a few miles ahead of us, still 
on the right bank of the river, with the great body 
of the Indians. At Bowles's farm, four miles from 
the bridge, we halted for the night, found two other 
vessels and a large distillery filled with ordnance 
and other valuable stores, to an immense amount, in 
flames. It was impossible to put out the fire. Two 
twenty-four pounders, with their carriages, were 
taken, and a large quantity of ball and shells of 
various sizes. The army was put in motion early 
in the morning of the 5th : I pushed on in advance 
of the mounted regiment, and requested Gov. Shelby 
to follow as expeditiously as possible with the in- 
fantry ; the governor's zeal, and that of his men, 



60 LI F £ O F 

enabled them to keep up with the cavalry, and, by 
9 o'clock, we were at Arnold's Mills, having taken 
in the course of the morning, two gun-boats and se- 
veral batteaux loaded with provisions and ammuni- 
tion. 

A rapid at the river at Arnold's Mills, affords the 
only fording to be met with for a considerable dis- 
tance, but, upon examination, it was found too deep 
for the infantry. Having, however, fortunately 
taken two or three boats, and some Indian canoes, 
on the spot, and obliging the horsemen to take a 
foot-man behind each, the whole were safely crossed 
by 12 o'clock. Eight miles from the crossing, we 
passed a farm, where a part of the British troops 
had encamped the night before, under the command 
of Coi. Warburton. The detachment with General 
Proctor had arrived the day before, at the Moravian 
towns, four miles higher up. Being now certainly 
near the enemy, I directed the advance of Johnson's 
regiment to accelerate their march, for the purpose 
of procuring intelligence. The officer commanding 
it, in a short time, sent to inform me, that his pro- 
gress was stopped by the enemy, who were formed 
across our line of march. One of the enemy's wag- 
goners being also taken prisoner, from the informa- 
tion received from him, and my own observation, 
assisted by some of my officers, I soon ascertained 
enough of their position and order of battle, to de- 
termine that which it was proper for me to adopt. 

I have the honor herewith to enclose you my 
general order, of the 27th ult., prescribing the order 
of march and of battle, when the whole army should 
act together. But, as the number and description 
of the troops had been essentially changed, since the 
issuing of the order, it became necessary to make a 
corresponding alteration in their disposition, r rom 
the place where our armv was last halted, to the 
Moravian towns, a distance of about three and a 
half miles, the road passes through a beech forest, 



GENERAL CASS. Gl 

without any clearing, and, for the first two miles, 
near to the bank of the river. At from two to three 
hundred yards from the river, a swamp extends pa- 
rallel to it, throughout the whole distance. The 
intermediate ground is dry, and although the trees 
are tolerably thick, it is in many places clear of 
underbrush. Across this strip of land, its left ap- 
payed upon the river, supported by artillery placed 
in the wood, their right in the swamp covered by 
the whole of their Indian force, the British troops 
were drawn up. 

The troops at my disposal consisted of about one 
hundred and twenty regulars of the 27th regiment, 
five brigades of Kentucky volunteer militia infantry, 
under his excellency Governor Shelby, averaging 
less than five hundred men, and Colonel Johnson's 
regiment of mounted infantry, making in the whole 
an aggregate something above three thousand. No 
disposition of an army, opposed to an Indian force, 
can be safe, unless it is secured on the flanks and in 
the rear. I had, therefore, no difficulty in arrang- 
ing the infantry conformably to my general order 
of battle. General Trotter's brigade of 500 men, 
formed the front line, his right upon the road and 
his left upon the swamp. General King's brigade, 
as a second line, 150 yards in the rear of Trotter's, 
and Chiles' brigade, as a corps of reserve in the rear 
of it. These three brigades formed the command of 
Major-General Henry; the whole of General De- 
sha's division, consisting of two brigades, were form- 
ed en potence upon the left of Trotter. 

Whilst I was engaged in forming the infantry, I 
had directed Colonel Johnson's regiment, which was 
still in front, to be formed in two lines opposite to 
the enemy, and, upon the advance of the infantry, 
to take ground to the left and forming upon that 
flank to endeavor to turn the right of the Indians. 
A moment's reflection, however, convinced me that 
from the thickness of the woods and swampiness of 
6 



62 LIFE OP 

the ground, they would be unable to do any thing 
on horseback, and there was no time to dismount 
them and place their horses in security; I therefore 
determined to refuse my left to the Indians, and to 
break the British lines at once bv a charge of the 
mounted infantry ; the measure was not sanctioned 
by any thing that I had seen or heard of, but I was 
fully convinced that it would succeed. The Ame- 
rican backwoodsmen ride better in the woods than 
any other people. A musket or rifle is no impedi- 
ment to them, being accustomed to carry them on 
horseback from their earliest youth. I was per- 
suaded, too, that the enemy would be quite unpre- 
pared for the shock, and that they could not resist 
it. Conformably to this idea, I directed the regi- 
ment to be drawn up in close column, with its right 
at the distance of fifty yards from the road, (that it 
might be in some measure protected, by the trees, 
from the artillery,) its left upon the swamp, and to 
charge at full speed as soon as the enemy delivered 
their fire. The few regular troops of the 27th regi- 
ment, under their colonel, (Paul,) occupied, in 
column of sections of four, the small space between 
the road and the river, for the purpose of seizing the 
enemy's artillery, and some ten or twelve friendly 
Indians were directed to move under the bank. The 
crotchet formed by the front line, and General De- 
sha's division, was an important point. At that 
place, the venerable governor of Kentucky was 
posted, who, at the age of sixty-six, preserves all 
the vigour of youth, the ardent zeal which distin- 
guished him in the revolutionary war, and the un- 
daunted bravery which he manifested at King's 
Mountain. With my aids-de-camp, the acting as- 
sistant adjutant general, Captain Butler, my gallant 
friend Commodore Perry, who did me the honor 10 
serve as my volunteer aid-de-camp, and Brigadier- 
General Cass, who, having no command, tendered 
me his assistance. I placed myself at the head of 



GENERAL CASS. 



G3 



the front line of infantry, to direct the movements 
of the cavalry, and give them the necessary support. 
The army had moved on in this order but a short 
distance, when the mounted men received the fire 
of the British line, and were ordered to charge; the 
horses in the front of the column recoiled from the 
fire ; another was given by the enemy, and our 
column, at length getting in motion, broke through 
the enemy with irresistible force. In one minute, 
the contest in front was over; the British officers, 
seeing no hopes of reducing their disordered ranks 
to order, and our mounted men wheeling upon them 
and pouring in a destructive fire, immediately sur- 
rendered. It is certain that three only of our troops 
were wounded in this charge. Upon the left, how- 
ever, the contest was more severe with the Indians. 
Colonel Johnson, who commanded on that flank of 
his regiment, received a most galling fire from them, 
which was returned with great effect. The Indians 
still further to the right, advanced and fell in with 
our front line of infantry, near its junction with 
Desha's division, and for a moment made an impres- 
sion upon it. His excellency, Governor Shelby, 
however, brought up a regiment to its support, and 
the enemy, receiving a severe fire in front, and a part 
of Johnson's regiment having gained their rear, re- 
treated with precipitation. Their loss was very 
considerable in the action, and many were killed in 
their retreat. 

I can give no satisfactory information of the num- 
ber of Indians that were in the action, but they 
must have been considerably upwards of one thou- 
sand. From the documents in my possession, (Gen. 
Proctor's official letters, all of which were taken,) 
and from the information of respectable inhabitants 
of this territory, the Indians kept in pay by the Bri- 
tish were much more numerous than has been gene- 
rally supposed. In a letter to General de Rotten- 
burg, of the 27th instant, General Proctor speaks of 



64 LIFE OF 

having prevailed upon most of the Indians to accom- 
pany him. Of these it is certain that fifty or sixty 
Wyandot warriors abandoned him.* 

The number of our troops was certainly greater 
than that of the enemv, but when it is recollected, 
that they had chosen a position that effectually se- 
cured their flank, which it was impossible for us to 
turn, and that we could not present to them a line 
more extended than their own, it will not be consi- 
dered arrogant to claim for my troops the palm of 
superior bravery. 

Jn communicating to the president, through you, 
sir, my opinion of the conduct of the officers who 
served under my command, I am at a loss how to 
mention that of Governor Shelby, being convinced 
that no eulogium of mine can reach his merit. The 
governor of an independent state, greatly my supe- 
rior in years, in experience, and in military charac- 
ter, he placed himself under my command, and was 
not more remarkable for his zeal and activity, than 
for the promptitude and cheerfulness with which he 
obeyed my orders. The Major-Generals Henry and 
Desha, and the Brigadiers Allen, Caldwell, King, 
Chiles and Trotter, all of the Kentucky volunteers, 
manifested great zeal and activity. Of Governor 
Shelby's staff, his Adjutant-General, Colonel Mc- 
Dowell, and his Quarter-Master General, Colonel 
Walker, rendered great service, as did his aids-de- 
camp, General Adair and Majors Barry and Crit- 
tenden. The military skill of the former was of 
great service to us, and the activity of the two lat- 
ter gentlemen could not be surpassed. Illness de- 
prived me of the talents of my Adjutant-General, 
Colonel Gaines, who was left at Sandwich. His 

* A British officer of high rank assured one of my aids-de- 
camp, that on the day of onr landing, General Proctor had, at 
his disposal, upwards of three thousand Indian warriors, hut 
asserted that the greatest part had left him previous to the ac- 
tion. 



GENERAL CASS. 65 

duties were, however, ably performed by the acting 
assistant Adjutant-General, Captain Butler. My 
aids-de-camp, Lieutenant O'Fallon, and Captain 
Todd, of the line, and my volunteer aids, John Speed 
Smith and John Chambers, Esq., have rendered me 
the most important service, from the opening of the 
campaign. I have already stated that General Cass 
and Commodore Perry assisted me in forming the 
troops for action. The former is an officer of the 
highest merit, and the appearance of the brave Com- 
modore cheered and animated every breast. 

It would be useless, sir, after stating the circum- 
stances of the action, to pass encomiums upon Col. 
Johnson and his regiment. Veterans could not have 
manifested more firmness. The colonel's numerous 
wounds prove that he was in the post of danger. 
Lieutenant-Colonel James Johnson, and the Majors, 
Payne and Thompson, were equally active, though 
more fortunate. Major Wood, of the engineers, al- 
ready distinguished by his conduct at Fort Meigs, 
attended the army with two six-pounders. Having 
no use for them in the action, he joined in the pur- 
suit of the enemy, and, with Major Payne, of the 
mounted regiment, two of my aids-de-camp, Todd 
and Chambers, and three privates, continued it for 
several miles after the rest of the troops had halted, 
and made many prisoners. 

I left the army before an official return of the pri- 
soners, or that of the killed and wounded, was made 
out. It was, however, ascertained that the former 
amounts to six hundred and one regulars, including 
twenty five officers. Our loss is seven killed and 
twenty-two wounded, five of which have since died. 
Of the" British troops, twelve were killed and twen- 
ty-two wounded. The Indians suffered most — 
thirty-three of them having been found upon the 
ground, besides those killed on the retreat. 

On the day of the action, six pieces of brass artil- 
lery were taken, and two iron twenty-four pound- 
er 



66 L I F E O F 

ers the day before. Several others were discovered 
in the river, and can be easily procured. Of the 
brass pieces, three are the trophies of our revolu- 
tionary war, that were taken at Saratoga and York, 
and surrendered by General Hull. The number of 
small arms taken by us, and destroyed by the ene- 
my, must amount to upwards of five thousand : most 
of them had been ours, and taken by the enemy at 
the surrender of Detroit, at the river Raisin, and 
Colonel Dudley's defeat. I believe that the enemy 
retain no other military trophy of their victories 
than the standard of the 4th regiment. They were 
not magnanimous enough to bring that of the 41st 
regiment into the field, or it would have been taken. 

You have been informed, sir, of the conduct of the 
troops under my command, in action; it gives me 
great pleasure to inform you, that they merit also 
the approbation of their country for their conduct, 
in submitting to the greatest privations with the ut- 
most cheerfulness. 

The infantry were entirely without tents, and for 
several days, the whole army subsisted upon fresh 
beef, without bread or salt. 

I have the honour to be, &c, 

WILLIAM H. HARRISON. 

General John Armstrong, Secretary of War. 

P. S. General Proctor escaped by the fleetness of 
his horses, escorted by forty dragoons and a number 
of mounted Indians. 

GENERAL ORDERS OF DEBARKATION, OF MARCH, 

AND OF BATTLE. 

Head-quarters on board the U. S. Schooner Ariel, ? 

September 27th, 1813. 3 

As it is the intention of the general to land the 
army on the enemy's coast, the following will be the 
order of debarkation, of march, and of battle. 

The right wing of the army will be composed of 
the Kentucky volunteers, under the command of his 



GENERAL CASS. 67 

excellency, Governor Shelby, acting as Major-Gene- 
ral. The left wing, of the light corps of Lieut. Col. 
Ball, and the brigades of Generals McArthur and 
Cass. This arrangement is made with a view to the 
localities of the ground upon which the troops are 
to act, and the composition of the enemy's force, and 
is calculated in marching up the lake or strait to 
place our regular troops in the open ground on the 
lake, where they will probably be opposed by the 
British regulars, and the Kentucky volunteers in the 
woods, which, it is presumed, will be occupied by 
the enemy's militia and the Indians. When the sig- 
nal is given for putting to the shore, the corps of 
Lieutenant-Colonel Ball will precede the left wing; 
the regiment of volunteer riflemen, the right wing; 
these corps will land with the utmost celerity, con- 
sistent with the preservation of good order, and as 
soon as landed will seize the most favorable position 
for annoying the enemy and covering the disembark- 
ation of the troops of the line. Gen. Cass's brigade 
will follow Col. Ball's corps, and Gen. Calmes' the 
volunteer riflemen. The regiments will land and 
form in succession upon those which precede them. 
The right wing, with its left in front, displaying to 
the left. The brigades of Generals King, Allen and 
Caldwell, will form successively to the right of Gen. 
Calme's; Gen. McArthur's and Childs' brigades will 
form the reserve. The general will command in 
person the brigades of Gen. Cass and Calmes, assist- 
ed by Major-General Henry. His excellency, Gov- 
ernor Shelby will have the immediate command of 
the three brigades on the right, assisted by Major- 
General Desha. As soon as the troops are disem- 
barked, the boats are immediately to be sent back 
to the fleet. It will be observed that the order of 
landing here prescribed, is somewhat that of direct 
cschellons deployed into line upon the advanced 
corps of the right and left wing. It is the intention 
of the general, however, that all the troops which 



68 LIFE OF 

are provided with boats should land in as quick suc- 
cession as possible ; and the general officers com- 
manding towards the extremities of the line are 
authorised to deviate from the arrangement to coun- 
teract any movement of the enemy, by landing any 
part of their commands, previous to the formation 
of the corps, which is herein directed to precede 
them. The corps of Lieutenant-Colonel Ball, and 
the volunteer rifle regiment, will maintain the posi- 
tion they occupy on landing, until the troops of the 
line are formed to support them ; they will then re- 
tire through the intervals of the line, or to the flanks, 
and form in the rear of the line. 

A detachment of artillery, with a six, four, and 
three-pounder, and howitzer, will land with the ad- 
vanced light corps ; the rest of the artillery will be 
held in reserve, and landed at such points as Major 
Wood may direct. 

The point of landing for the reserve, under Brig- 
adier-General Mc Arthur, cannot now be designated; 
it will be made to support any point of the line 
which may require aid, or be formed on the flanks, 
as circumstances may render necessary. The ar- 
rangement for landing the troops will be made en- 
tirely under the direction of an officer of the navy, 
whom Commodore Perry has been so obliging as to 
offer for that purpose. The debarkation of the troops 
will be covered by the cannon of the vessels. The 
troops being landed, and the enemy driven off, or 
not opposing its landing, the army will change its 
front to the left, and form in order of battle, in the 
following manner: The two brigades of regular 
troops, and two of the volunteers, to be formed in 
two lines, at right angles to the shore of the lake. 
General McArthur's brigade, and Calrnes' to form 
the front of the line, and Cass and Childs's the se- 
cond line; the regular troops still on the left.; that 
flank of both lines resting on the shore, the distance 
between the two lines will be three hundred yards. 



GENERALCASS. 69 

The remaining three brigades of volunteers will be 
drawn up in a single line of two ranks, at right an- 
gles to the line of march, its head upon the right of 
the front line, forming a crotchet {en potence) with 
that line, and extending beyond the second line. 
The corps of Lieutenant-Colonel Ball will form the 
advance of the left wing at the distance of three 
hundred yards, the regiment of the rifle volunteers 
the advance of the right wing at the same dis- 
tance. 

Some pieces of light artillery will be placed in the 
road leading up the lake, and at such other points 
as Major Wood may direct. When the order is 
given for marching, the first and second lines will 
advance by files from the heads of companies ; in 
other words, these two lines will form two columns, 
marching by their flanks, by companies, at entire 
distances. The three brigades on the right flank 
will be faced to the left, and marched forward — 
the head of this column still forming en potence with 
the front line. It is probable that the two brigades 
of the front line will extend from the lake, some dis- 
tance into the woods, on the right flank, and it is 
desirable it. should be so — but should it be other- 
wise, and the .crotchet or angle be at any time on 
the open ground, his excellency, Governor Shelby, 
will immediately prolong the front line to the right 
by adding to it as many companies of the leading 
brigade of the flank column as will bring the angle 
and consequently the flank column itself completely 
within the woods. It is to be presumed that the 
enemy will make their attack upon the army on its 
march, that their regular troops will form their 
right upon the lake, their militia occupy the ground 
between the regulars and the woods, and the In- 
dians the woods. The formation herein prescrib- 
ed is intended to resist an arrangement of this 
kind. Should the general conjecture on that sub- 
ject prove correct, as it must be evident that the 



70 LIFE OF 

right of the enemy cannot be turned, and on that 
wing his best troops must be placed, it will be pro- 
per to refuse him our left, and direct our princi- 
pal effort to uncover the left flank of his regulars 
by driving off his militia. In the event here sup- 
posed, therefore, it will be proper to bring up a 
part or the whole of General Cass's brigade, to 
assist the charge made by General Calmes, or that 
the former shoufd change positions with the bri- 
gade of volunteers in the second line. Should the 
general think it safe to order the whole of Cass's 
brigade to the right, without replacing it with 
another, General Cass will march it, the right 
formed in oblique eschellons of companies. It will 
be the business of General McArthur, in the event 
of his wing being refused, to watch the motion 
of the enemy, (and with the assistance of the ar- 
tillery,) prevent his front line at least from inter- 
rupting the progress of our right. Should the 
enemy's militia be defeated, the brigade of ours 
in advance will immediately wheel upon the flank 
of the British regulars, and General McArthur 
will advance to attack them in front. In the mean 
time, his excellency Governor Shelby can use the 
brigade in reserve of the second line, to prolong 
thefiank line from its front or left, or to rein- 
force any weak part of the line. In all cases 
where troops in advance are obliged to retire, 
through those who are advancing to support them, 
it will be done by companies, in files, which will 
retire through the intervals of the advancing line, 
and will immediately form in the rear. The light 
troops will be particularly governed by this direc- 
tion. 

The disposition of the troops on the right flank is 
such as the commanding general thinks best calcu- 
lated to resist an attack from Indians, which is only 
to be expected from that quarter. His excellency 
Governor Shelby will, however, use his discretion in 



GENERAL CASS, 71 

making any alteration which his experience and 
judgment may dictate. Lieutenant-Colonel Ball, 
Lieutenant-Colonel Simral, and the general officers 
commanding on the flank line are to send out small 
detachments in advance of the two former corps, 
and to the flank of the latter. Should they disco- 
ver the enemy in face, immediately notice will be 
sent to the lines. The general commanding on the 
spot will immediately order the signals for forming 
in order of battle, which will be the beat "to arms." 

All signals will be immediately repeated by all 
the drums of the line — the signal for the whole to 
halt, is the retreat. Drums will be distributed along 
the heads of companies, and the taps occasionally 
given to regulate their march. 

Lieutenant-Colonels Ball and Simrall are to keep 
the general constantly advised of the discoveries 
made by the advanced parties. Where it shall be- 
come necessary for the corps of Ball and Simral! to 
retire, they will form on the flank, or in the rear of 
McArthur's and Calmes's brigades, and receive the 
orders of the brigadiers respectively. 

Brigadier-General Cass will designate such offi- 
cers as he may deem proper, to assist Captain El- 
liot, of the navy, in the arrangement of the boats, 
a#d the debarkation of the troops. The general 
will be the signal for the whole to move. By com- 
mand, (Signed) 

EDMUND P. GAINES, 

Col. Adj. Gen. 
Truly copied from the original. 

Robert Butler, A. A. Adj. Gen. 

Not only did General Cass thus distinguish him- 
self in the field, but he acquired a celebrity equally 
enviable by his kindness and consideration to his 
men. The following anecdote derived from an un- 
doubted authority, best illustrates this trait: 

" While a number of old soldiers were being in- 



72 LIFE OF 

troduced to General Cass, one of our citizens ap- 
proached the general, and asked if he remembered 
him. Upon replying that he did not, he gave the 
following account of their first meeting: — 'In the 
spring of 1813, Fort Meigs was besieged by the 
British and Indians, and the militia of Ohio were 
called out to march to the relief of the fort. Gene- 
ral Cass was appointed to the command. Six thou- 
sand assembled at Upper Sandusky, of whom two 
thousand were selected to proceed on to the fort. 
The marshes and woods were filled with water, 
making the roads almost impassable. The com- 
manding general had not yet arrived, but was daily 
expected. On the second day of the march, a young 
soldier, from exposure to the weather, was taken 
sick. Unable to march in the ranks, he followed 
along in the rear. When at a distance behind, 
attempting with difficulty to keep pace with his 
comrades, two officers rode along, one a stranger, 
and the other the colonel of his regiment. On pass- 
ing him, the colonel remarked, • general, that poor 
fellow there is sick; he is a good fellow though, for 
he refuses to go back; but I fear that the Indians 
will scalp him, or the crows pick him, before we 
get to Fort Meigs.' The officer halted, and dis- 
mounted from his horse. When the young soldier 
came up, he addressed him : ' My brave boy, you 
are sick and tired, I am well and strong; mount my 
horse and ride/ The soldier hesitated. 'Do not 
wait,' said the officer; and, lifting him upon his 
horse, with directions to ride at night to the gene- 
ral's tent, he proceeded on foot to join the army. 
At nisrht, the young soldier rode to the tent, where 
he was met by the general with a cheerful wel- 
come, which he repaid with tears of gratitude. That 
officer was General Cass, and the young soldier was 
the person addressing him, our worthy fellow-citi- 
zen, John Laylin.' The general, remembering the 
circumstance, immediately recognised him. Mr. 



GENERAL CASS. 73 

Laylin remarked, 'general, that act was not done 
for the world to look upon ; it was done in the woods, 
with but three to witness it." 

This anecdote was elicited with others, at a large 
and spontaneous meeting held at Norwalk, Ohio, in 
September last, to advocate General Cass as a candi- 
date for the presidency. At the same time and place, 
it was stated by the late Colonel Hamer, " that on 
one of General Cass's recent tours, his carriage was 
one day stopped by a man who, addressing the gene- 
ral, said : ' I can't let you pass without speaking to 
you. You don't know me, general.' General Cass 
replied that he did not. * Well, sir, (said he) I was 
the first man in your regiment to jump out of the 
boat on the Canadian shore.' 'No, you were not, 
(said General Cass;) I was the first man myself on 
shore.' 'True, (said the other;) I jumped out first 
into the river to get ahead of you ; but you held me 
back, and got on shore ahead of me." 

The battle of the Thames put an end to the North- 
Western campaign, and separated the force of the 
enemy, but all difficulty was far from being removed. 
The advance of General Harrison's army had again 
put the United States in possession of Michigan, and 
also ^iven them the control of a large portion of 
Upper Canada. To the command of this important 
district, General Cass was assigned by General Har- 
rison, previous to the withdrawal of the liberating 
armv. On the 9th of October, 1813, Mr. Madison 
appointed him civil governor of Michigan, his accep- 
tance of which post, of course, vacated his commis- 
sion as brigadier-general. This was an office of 
immense power, and necessarily so. At the head 
both of the civil and military establishments of an 
almost limitless region, filled with hostile Indians 
and frequented by British emissaries, he was often 
called on to exercise his authority in both capacities. 

The country was left almost without permanent 
defenders, and the Indians in predatory bands ad- 
7 



74 L I F E O F 

vanced almost under the guns of Detroit, while per- 
sons were killed within view of the sentinels of the 
garrison. To put an end to and punish such out- 
rages, on three occasions, bodies of mounted volun- 
teers were collected, and under the immediate com- 
mand of General Cass, employed against the marau- 
ders. This was a most dangerous service, and one 
which led to little renown, yet was most important. 
It is probable, that of all the North American tribes, 
except, perhaps, the Seminoles, those which at that 
day were strewn along the Northern lakes, were at 
the same time, the most astute and courageous. 
The marches through the wilderness were perpe- 
tually beset with ambuscades, and the strictest 
military precaution was necessary to guard against 
surprise and massacre. On more than one occasion 
the general was in danger, having seen his servant, 
who rode immediately behind him, fired on, and at- 
tacked by an Indian with a clubbed rifle : the as- 
sailant killed with difficulty, after a hand-to-hand 
contest. 

Peace came at last and put an end to this contest, 
the bitterness of which had been previously allayed 
by a treaty entered into in July 1814, at Greenville, 
Ohio, with the Indians who had borne arms against 
the United States during the war. The commis- 
sioners to effect this were General Harrison and 
General Cass ; and the high talent and reputation 
of the two, doubtless, exerted much influence on the 
savage negociators, who, during General Cass's ad- 
ministration of the government of Michigan, had 
learned that he was not a man to be trifled with, 
and that they could not devastate the settlements 
with impunity. The negociators were so far suc- 
cessful, that a peace was concluded, and a formida- 
ble body of the Indians, who had been led astray 
by British intrigue, were actually mustered into the 
service of the United States as auxiliaries, and ac- 
companied General Cass to Detroit. How peculiar 



* GENERAL CASS. 75 

General Cass's condition subsequently became, may 
be estimated from the fact that, in all Michigan, 
there was but one company of regular soldiers, who, 
with the unembodied militia and the auxiliaries 
mentioned above, were expected to defend the 
country against the numerous Indians who were 
perpetually on the alert to resume their old attitude 
of war and defiance. 

Immediately on the conclusion of peace, General 
Cass moved his family to Detroit, where, except 
when called thence by public service, he has re- 
gularly resided. 



76 LIFE OF 



CHAPTER IV. 

Michigan after the War — Commissioner to treat with the 
Indians — Improved condition of Michigan, etc. — Literary 
Matters. 

The condition of Michigan on the termination of 
the war was peculiar, and the country presented 
one scene of devastation, so that when the inhabit- 
ants who had been driven off by the invaders re- 
turned, they found but the wrecks of their former 
homes. The original white colonists of the country 
had been French, and from Montreal and Quebec. 
The Jesuit fathers had passed to Detroit, on their 
way to achieve the vastest discovery after that of 
Columbus and Balboa, which had been made on the 
continent. When Henepin and his companions dis- 
covered the Mississippi, Detroit acquired new im- 
portance to that it previously possessed from its 
commanding the passage to lakes Huron, Michigan, 
and Superior, and because it was a connecting link 
in the chain of fortifications which shut in the then 
British colonies. Its possession after the capture of 
Fort Duquesne, became yet more important, and 
great efforts were made by De Levi and the other 
French governors of Canada, to promote its coloni- 
zation. When Canada fell into the hands of Great 
Britain, the post lost none of its value, and acquired 
a great numerical strength from the emigration of 
the peculiar population which even now distinguishes 
Upper from Lower Canada. 

The treaty of peace which terminated the revo- 
lutionary war, gave all the country south of the lakes 
to the United States; yet, for a long time, the British 
garrisons remained, and became the seat of the in- 



GENERAL CASS, 



77 



trigues which produced the hostilities in which St. 
Clair was so disastrously defeated, and which were 
terminated by the brilliant victories of Wayne. 

Under these circumstances there had been but 
little emigration thither from the United States, and 
the people continued still almost purely Canadian. 
The usual privileges and franchises which had been 
conferred on the people of the other territories, had 
not been extended to Michigan, the government of 
which continued purely military. The British in- 
vasion had not lessened the evil of this state of 
things, and during it the laws had become silent, 
morals had suffered, and great prudence was neces- 
sary in the government to restore order and industry. 
It became the duty of General Cass to establish a 
civil government, and he did this almost unassisted. 
To give an idea how completely he was unaided 
in this labour, it will only be necessary to state, that 
the territory had no deliberative assembly, and that 
the legislative power resided in the governor, assist- 
ed by the judges of the district courts of the United 
States, who had been appointed by Mr. Madison about 
the same time he had received his civil appointment. 
Though the depository of this high power, altogether 
an anomaly in our country, and which would have 
flattered the vanity of a feebler mind, General Cass 
was unceasing in his efforts to procure for Michigan 
the privilege of sending a delegate to the Congress 
of the United States, and the authorization of the 
sale of the public lands in Michigan. It was not, 
however, until 1819, that these changes were effect- 
ed, which, of course, limited his own power, but 
contributed much to the prosperity of Michigan. 
The judgment of the people in relation to its rulers 
is infallible; and no better evidence of General 
Cass's purity and ability can be given, than that, 
under seven successive administrations, he was re- 
nominated on the legal expiration of his term of 
service, and each time unanimously confirmed by 
7* 



78 LIFE OF 

the Senate of the United States, without one re- 
monstrance from the large territory over which he 
presided, and which had, under his care, rapidly 
thriven and prospered. 

The war had left much bitterness of feeling in 
the minds of the many Indian tribes within Michi- 
gan against the United States. This was natural 
enough. The great principle of their moral organi- 
zation was a feeling of the justice of revenge for 
injuries, — not by any means a peculiarity of the 
red man, — and they could not forget their sufferings 
at Tippecanoe, the Thames, and Fort Meigs, where 
their bravest chiefs and warriors had fallen. Every 
one, therefore, knew that the peace concluded at 
Greenville, Ohio, in 1814, was even on the part of 
the tribes who participated in it but a truce, the 
bonds of which, on the first opportunity, would be 
thrown off. The chief part of General Cass's duty, 
therefore, was to attempt to convert this truce into a 
solid and lasting peace, and to endeavour to induce 
the Indians to follow their own true interests, which 
could only be attained under the protection of and 
not by hostility to the United States. 

During the year 1815, Governor Cass was, with 
his old companion in arms, Colonel McArthur, 
appointed to represent the United States in a talk 
or conference to be held with various Indian tribes 
at Fort Meigs. The conference resulted in a treaty 
by w T hich the Indians ceded to the United States 
the title to the valuable lands composing the North- 
western portion of the state of Ohio. During the 
next year, another conference was held at St. 
Mary's, by which the Pottawatamies and other minor 
tribes ceded to the United States much valuable 
land within the limits of Indiana. In 1819, he pre- 
sided at another conference at Saginaw, where the 
Indians in Michigan ceded to the United States 
large and valuable tracts of land. By these impor- 
tant treaties, and others explanatory of them, the 



GENERAL CASS. 79 

total number of which was twenty-one, General 
Cass acquired for the United States one hundred 
millions of acres of land, now teeming with an ac- 
tive and prosperous population. 

It has now become the custom to scoff at Indian 
treaties, and the history of the past unfortunately 
exhibits too much reason for looking on them gene- 
rally, if not fraudulent, yet as not contracted with 
the solemn faith which should characterize obliga- 
tions of their nature. It is, however, very certain 
that the Indians have never submitted in silence 
when they have been wronged, and in no instance 
do we hear any complaint made, either by them or 
in their behalf, of wrong from the hands of General 
Cass. During these years, and subsequently, Gene- 
ral Cass participated in many eventful scenes, the 
narration of which, though interesting, must be 
omitted ; one of which, however, was most peculiar 
and too striking to be neglected — 

In the year 18*20, at the instance of General Cass, 
Mr. Calhoun, who was then secretary at war, au- 
thorized an expedition to the Upper Lakes for the 
purpose of passing from the western extremity of 
Lake Superior to the Mississippi, with a view to 
explore that then unknown land, and open a com- 
munication with the Indians who inhabited it and 
the shores of the noble lakes through which they 
must pass to reach Fond du Lac. Accompanying 
the party, besides Captain Douglas of the United 
States engineer corps, were several men of science, 
among whom was the Indian archaeologist and his- 
torian Schoolcraft, who were charged to make an 
elaborate and scientific report on the topography of 
the country, its mineral and probable agricultural 
resources. The government having determined to 
establish a military post at the Sault or rapids of 
St. Marie, Governor Cass was authorized to inform 
the chiefs and warriors of the circumstance. The 
Indians of the Sault of St. Marie belonged to the 



80 LIFE OF 

alliance of Sioux, Winnebagoes, Ottawas, and Ojib- 
ways, who had, on the 17th of August, 1812, sur- 
prised the garrison of Macinac, in co-operations 
with a British and Canadian force, on which occa- 
sion the chief of the band had been conspicuous. 
When the Indians had assembled in council, the 
resolution of the President was formally announced. 
Under the influence of their chief, who yet continued 
friendly to the English, if he was not in their pay, 
they immediately left the council fire, and showed 
their hostility most decidedly by conveying their 
women and children across the river which sepa- 
rated them from Canada ; at the same time they 
hoisted a British flag, and prepared for fight. Ge- 
neral Cass had with him only an escort of a subal- 
tern's guard, but the act was one which, if suffered 
to pass unrebuked, might ultimately occasion the 
most disastrous consequences. He therefore, ac- 
companied by no one but an interpreter, proceeded 
at once to the Indian position, and with his own 
hands struck the British ensign. He then told the 
Indians promptly and decidedly, and in a manner 
adapted to their own habits of thought and ex- 
pression, that they stood within the United States, 
and that no other flag would be permitted to wave 
within its territory. He then returned to his escort 
bearing with him the flag which British officials yet 
encouraged their savage allies of the war of 1812 
to prostitute. The reports of this expedition, pub- 
lished by order of Congress, from the pens of Cap- 
tain Douglas and Mr. Schoolcraft, are of the most 
interesting character possible in unfolding the im- 
mense resources of the countfy north of Illinois and 
west of lake Superior. In other respects it was not 
less important ; treaties which subsisted unbroken 
until the Black Hawk war, having been formed not 
only with the Indians at the Sault, but with other 
tribes of the immense northern hive. 

The presence of the Sauks and Foxes on the Rock 



GENERAL CASS. 81 

River, west of lake Michigan, and the fact that the 
Winnebagoes and other tribes actually had posses- 
sion of the territory west of lake Superior, now 
constituting the state of Wisconsin, long kept settlers 
from it ; but the result of this exploration was 
deeply impressed on the popular mind, so that as 
soon as these difficulties were removed, a population 
rushed in, and Wisconsin, previously known only 
from the lead mines in its south-western corner, be- 
came at once the seat of a thriving agricultural 
industry. 

In 1821, Governor Cass was again employed in 
the negotiation of the treaty of Chicago. On this 
occasion, so feeble was the transportation across the 
present populous states of Ohio and Indiana, that 
he was forced to embark at Detroit in a canoe of 
bark, pass thence to the mouth of the Maumee, 
which he ascended to the portage between that 
river and the Wabash, which he. descended to its 
confluence with the Ohio. Thence he proceeded by 
St. Louis up the Illinois river, and across the Port- 
age to Chicago. At that place a treaty was nego- 
tiated with the Pottawatamie and other, tribes, by 
which the right to an immense tract of land in 
Michigan south of Grand River was acquired. This 
was a trip of great hardship, the severity of which 
the traveller over these states at. present can with 
difficulty conceive of. He was forced to encamp at 
night in the wilderness and was exposed to all the 
severity of the weather. 

In 1823, Governor Cass was called upon to nego- 
tiate yet another treaty, advantageous both to the 
Indian and the United States, by which a valuable 
tract of land in Muskingum county, Ohio, was ceded 
to the United States. 

In 1825, Mr. Adams appointed Governor Cass 
and the celebrated William Clark of Missouri com- 
missioners to treat with the Sioux, Winnebagoes, 
Mciioannies, Chippewas, Otlawas, Pottawatamies, 



82 LIFE OF 

Sauks and Foxes, and Iowas. During his tour in 
1821, previously described, General Cass had ob- 
served that many, if not all of the disputes among 
the Indians occurred from the undefined nature of 
their boundaries, which were only ascertained by 
traditions, and that in many cases where two tribes 
were abrasions from some old race, in one dis- 
trict the authority of the rightful governors could 
not be positively ascertained. The conference re- 
ferred to was called for the purpose of correcting 
this great evil, and if possible to fix the limits of the 
hunting grounds and the jurisdiction of each tribe. 
To this scheme much opposition was interposed, as 
each tribe apprehended its own power would be 
lessened and that of its neighbours increased. The 
United States wished no concession, and obtained 
none, yet effected much for the good of the country 
— peace being effected between the Sauks, Sioux, 
Chippeways and Ioways, and the possibility of fu- 
ture conflicts much lessened. — Every intestine Indian 
disturbance will always agitate and affect the pros- 
perity of the frontier nearest the scene of trouble, 
and the diminution of these troubles must always 
be grateful to the peaceful and industrious frontiers- 
man, on such occasions not only liable to Indian 
outrage, but also to injury from the houseless vaga- 
bonds, refugees and others always ready to make 
an Indian war a pretext for crime. 

At this council, which was held at Prairie du 
Chien, an immense concourse of chiefs and warriors 
assembled, the number of which has been variously 
estimated. In full costume and paint, the Sauks and 
Foxes ascended the Mississippi to Prairie du Chien, 
passing the town with their canoes in line, singing 
their wild but not unmusical war songs. Tribe 
after tribe assembled at the spot appointed for the 
council, in which were almost all the notables of 
the Indians of that region, among whom were Keo- 
kuk and Black Hawk, then in the prime of their 



GENERAL CASS. 83 

lives, side by side with the old warriors of 1812, 
who on more than one occasion had fought side by 
side with British veterans, whom they had often 
surpassed, in support of the pretensions of England. 
The treaty lasted several days, and was satisfactory 
to both parties. One of Governor Cass' co-commis- 
sioners, Colonel McKenney, has given a picturesque 
account of this expedition. On the return of Gov- 
ernor Cass, another treaty on the Wabash was 
effected, by which a large tract of land was ceded 
in the limits of Indiana. 

In 1827, treaties were negotiated at Green Bay 
and at Saint Joseph's, under the agency of Governor 
Cass. On his arrival at Green Bay, on the western 
side of lake Michigan, for the purpose of treating 
with the Winnebagoes, who were to have joined in 
the negotiation, he was informed that they were 
embodying rapidly and apparently preparing for 
war. It was not a season for delay or hesitation, 
and he at once embarked in a birchen-bark canoe, 
in which he had previously passed up the Maumee 
and Illinois to Chicago, and crossing the portage 
into the Wisconsin, proceeded at once, with but two 
or three voyagers, to the encampment of the Win- 
nebagoes. On his arrival at the bank, he landed 
alone and sought without effect to speak to them. 
After several useless attempts to confer with them, he 
retired towards his canoe, and had no sooner turned 
his back than a young warrior took deliberate aim 
at him and attempted to fire. The piece did not 
explode, and convinced of the hostility of the tribe 
by these significant acts, he immediately left them. 
He went down the river, and at Prairie du Chien 
found the whole population in the greatest alarm ; 
a few days before a large batteau had been attacked 
by a hostile party, and the crew, had with difficulty 
beaten off their assailants, and a family had been 
murdered and scalped in the village. After orga- 
nizing the people for their own defence, (the place 



84 



LIFE OF 



was then ungarrisoned) he hurried to St. Louis, 
whence a large detachment of troops was at once 
sent to the scene of difficulty, and reinforced by a 
body of Illinois militia and troops from Michigan; 
the members of the tribe who had committed the 
outrages were surrendered and tranquillity restored. 
On this tour, Governor Cass had travelled in an 
open boat eighteen hundred miles. To his exertions, 
and the ability of the distinguished officer in com- 
mand of the troops, must be attributed the preser- 
vation of the frontier from a border war. 

Early in 1828, Governor Cass, in conjunction with 
Colonel Pierre Menard, was again called upon to 
treat with various tribes of Indians, for the posses- 
sion of the mineral lands on the Mississippi south 
of the Wisconsin. The seat of the council was 
Green Bay, where the commissioners arrived late in 
the summer ; but, on the 25th of August, formed a 
treaty or concordat, permitting the Indians to occupy 
the lands in which were the lead mines. During 
the next year a more formal treaty was, according 
to the stipulations of the concordat, to be held, for 
the purchase of the whole mineral country, and in 
the intervening time no white man was to cross a 
given line to dig for ore. One clause provided, that 
for the trespasses already committed, the aboriginal 
possessors were to be paid $20,000. This agree- 
ment was ratified by the Senate and the President, 
January 7, 1829. 

In 1822, General Cass had effected the organiza- 
tion of a legislative council, which relieved him of 
an onerous post, his -duties, and permitted him to 
attend to his scheme of Indian pacification, to which 
he contributed more than any living man. 



GENERAL CASS. 85 



CHAPTER V. 



General Cass's Civil Services — Literary History — John Hunter — 
General Jackson — Nullification — Alabama — Black Hawk 
War — Creek War— Seminole War — Minister to France. 



The messages of Governor Cass to the council of 
Michigan, have attracted general attention, and but 
for the fact that they relate to merely local matters, 
are well worthy of attention. They are written in 
a style which has commanded general attention on 
account of its uniform chastity and dignity, exhibit- 
ing a rare cultivation apparently incompatible with 
the fact, that he had reaped the benefit of no college 
lore, but necessarily had to rely on the innate powers 
of his own mind, called into action by the emergen-* 
cies, among which, the fortunes of his, early life 
were cast. 

The general pacification of the whole west, how- 
ever, allowed General Cass an opportunity to attend 
to literary pursuits, and to establish his reputation 
on as high a pinnacle as a man of letters, as he had 
previously done as a soldier and negotiator. Long, 
however, before this time, in 1825, a narrative had 
been published by a person called John Hunter, 
which from its ingenuity, almost recalls the famous 
Ireland forgeries. John Hunter professed himself 
to be a person of while extraction, who had been 
stolen, or captured while young, by a war-party of 
the great Wausache, or Osage tribe, and adopted 
by them. In a narrative of his life, he professed to 
give an esquise of his own adventures and of the his- 
tory of the Osage. The book has since been acknow- 
8 



80 LIFE OF 

ledged as a palpable forgery, but at the time it made 
a great impression on the popular mind. Governor 
Cass, from his great intercourse and familiarity with 
the Indian character, was not to be imposed upon, 
and at once detected its many errors. These he 
exposed in an article in the fiftieth number of the 
North American Review, which at the time attracted 
universal attention from its peculiarly eloquent style, 
and the engrossing interest of its subject. The 
whole article was subsequently translated into Ger- 
man, and printed in more than one of the reviews 
of that country, which, perhaps, in a literary point 
of view, is the most prolific and most critical of all 
Europe. In yet another article, he alluded to the 
history of the aboriginal race, referring to its his- 
tory and statistics in a peculiarly happy style, which 
not only commanded the attention of the antiquarian 
but of the student of general literature. This ar- 
ticle was printed in the fifty-fifth number of the 
North American Review. 

Not only did General Cass in person attend to 
literary pursuits, but amid his multifarious engage- 
ments, he contrived to excite attention to similar 
subjects among the number of young and enter- 
prising men who, under his auspices, flocked to 
Michigan, in search of fame and fortune. He was 
mainly instrumental in forming theHistorical Society 
of Michigan, the first annuaf address to which he 
delivered, in which he called attention to the pecu- 
liarly picturesque and strange history of Michigan, 
previous to its occupation by the United States. 
This address was delivered in 1829. 

The reputation of General Cass had extended far 
and wide, and, at the instance of the alumni of Ha- 
milton College in New York, he delivered the anni- 
versary address. College harangues and orations 
delivered on the fourth of Jul v are usually consider- 
ed beyond the pale of criticism, but the high tone, 
dignified research and character of this oration, al- 



GENERAL CASS. 87 

most places it above it. So often have honorary 
degrees been prostituted by being conferred on un- 
worthy persons, that we might well omit stating, 
that Mr. Cass received from this University the ho- 
norary degree of LL. D. Previous to this, he had 
been appointed a member of the American Philo- 
sophical Society of Philadelphia, of the New Hamp- 
shire, Rhode Island and Indiana Historical societies, 
of the American Antiquarian .Society, and of the 
American Institute. On the records of the proceed- 
ings of each of these societies the name of Governor 
Cass will always be found in honourable connection 
with subjects of great national interest. 

On the fourth of March, 1829, General Jackson 
was inaugurated as President of the United States, 
and one of his earliest official acts was to nominate 
to the Senate, Lewis Cass as Governor of Michigan; 
on which occasion, for the seventh time, he was con- 
firmed. Immediately on the entrance of General 
Jackson on the discharge of his official duties, he 
made the following nominations, which were con- 
firmed unanimously by the Senate. Martin Van 
Buren of New York, was appointed Secretary of 
State; Samuel D. Ingham, of Pennsylvania, of the 
Treasury; John H. Eaton, of Tennessee, of War; 
John Branch, of North Carolina, of the Navy; J. 
McPherson Berrien, Attorney-General; and William 
T. Barry, of Kentucky, Postmaster-General. 

This cabinet had but a brief existence, and daring 
the months of April and June, 1831, in consequence 
of a social misunderstanding and want of harmony 
in the cabinet, all except Mr. Barry resigned, and 
a new cabinet was organized, as follows: Edward 
Livingston, of Louisiana, Secretary of State ; Louis 
M'Lane, of Delaware, Secretary of the Treasury; 
Lewis ('ass, of Ohio, Si-cretary of War ; Levi Wood- 
bury, of New Hampshire, Secretary of the Navy ; 
Roger B. Taney, of Maryland, Attorney-General ; 



88 LIFE OF 

and William T. Barry, of Kentucky, Postmaster- 
Genet al, continued. 

This cabinet was not only superior to that which 
preceded it, but might fairly be compared, in point 
of talent and ability, with most of those of previous 
administrations ; and its character furnished strong 
testimony of the tribute paid to public opinion in the 
selection of his advisers, by a chief magistrate of 
great personal popularity. 

The removal of General Cass from Michigan was 
greatly regretted by the people of the territory over 
whose fortunes he had long presided, and whom he 
had conducted from almost their state's infancy to 
prosperity and importance. The history of General 
Jackson has now passed into the annals of the coun- 
try and of the world. In all the events of this ad- 
ministration General Cass played a conspicuous part. 
The important questions of the bank, of the removal 
of the deposits and the consequences, of nullification, 
the French indemnification, nullification, and the 
Creek and Cherokee difficulties, each of which in- 
volved the long mooted and important questions of 
the rights of the state and federal governments. 
These questions, and all similar ones, it is to be 
hoped are now and for ever at rest ; and it is far 
more pleasant to forget than to dwell on them. 
They were curious in their nature and origin, espe- 
cially from the fact that during their discussion all 
party lines were forgotten. Mr. Clay, of Kentucky, 
Mr. Webster, and their friends, who previously and 
since had bitterly opposed General Jackson, siding 
with him; while his friends, Mr. Mangum, of North 
Carolina, Mr. Calhoun, of South Carolina, Mr. Ty- 
ler, of Virginia, and hosts of others who previously 
had been his strenuous supporters, arrayed them- 
selves against him. 

The war department, over which Mr. Cass pre- 
sided during the nullification difficulty, was especi- 
ally active, and the correspondence between the 



GENERAL CASS. 



89 



secretary and General Scott, who commanded the 
United States troops sent to Charleston, was one of 
the most interesting and instructive ever published 
in the country. Each of these high officers seemed 
aware of the importance of the crisis, and exerted 
their high talents and brilliant acquirements to the 
true interests of the nation. The crisis passed, and 
to no other two men in the United States are the 
obligations of the country so justly due. A well 
known writer thus succinctly states the services of 

General Cass : . 

" At the portentous period of nullification, the 
military orders were firm, but discreet ; and it ap- 
peared by a message from the President, in answer 
to a call upon that subject, that no order had been 
at any time given to ' resist the constituted authorities 
of the State of South Carolina, within the chartered 
limits of said State: The orders to General Scott 
informed him that, 'should, unfortunately, a crisis 
arise when the ordinary power in the hands of the 
civil officers should not be sufficient for the execution 
of the laws, the President would determine the course 
to be taken, and the measures to be adopted; till then 
he was prohibited from acting.' " 

Respect to law has ever been the characteristic 
of the true soldier, and this feeling was at this , 
stormy crisis most emphatically expressed by the 
conduct of General Cass. At a later day, in rela- 
tion to the difficulties which seemed not unlikely to 
arise between the United States and Alabama, in 
consequence of trespasses on the lands of the United 
States acquired from the Choctaw, Chickasaw, and 
Muscocree or Creek Nations, General Cass expressed 
the most law-fearing opinions, which were fully sus- 
tained by his conduct. No clearer evidence ot this 
can be given than a letter from the office of the 
Secretary of War to the now distinguished Colonel 
Mcintosh, then a major of the army, dated Wash- 
ington city, October 29, 1833. It was as follows : 
8* 



90 LIFE OF 

" Sir — Your letter of the 21st instant to Major 
General Macomb has been laid before me; and, in 
answer, I have to inform you that you will interpose 
no obstacle to the services of legal process upon any 
officer or soldier under you/ command, whether is- 
suing from the courts of the State of Alabama, or 
of the United States On the contrary, vou will 
give all necessary facilities to the exeeution of such 
process. It is not the intention of the President 
that any part of the military force of the United 
States should be brought into collision with the civil 
authority. In all questions of jurisdiction, it is the 
duty of the former to submit to the latter, and no 
considerations must interfere with that duty. lf f 
therefore, an officer of the State, or of the United 
States, come with legal process against yourself, or 
an officer or soldier of your garrison, you will freely 
admit him within your post, and allow him to exe- 
cute his writ undisturbed." 

Next come references to matters of routine and 
service. 

For many years the bureau of the Secretary of 
War had not been called on to conduct any active 
operations on a large scale, and the army, by the 
gradual exigencies of the service, had been distri- 
buted in detachments from Maine to Louisiana, on 
both frontiers, without any force at any one point 
sufficient to hold in check a score of mutinous In- 
dians, or to restrain even a band of marauding 
smugglers. A series of events now, however, oc- 
curred, which called forth all the energy of the go- 
vernment, and for a long time created great anxiety 
not only on the western frontier but throughout the 
United States. From the treaty of peace contracted 
in 1814, the Winnebagoes, the Sauk, and Foxes, had 
been, though quiet, far from being friendly to the 
government. At various times they had been anx- 
ious for war, which had been prevented only by 
great moderation on the part of the officials of the 



GENERAL CASS. 



91 



United States, and had remained under the influ- 
ence of chiefs notoriously friendly to Great Britain, 
and therefore hostile to the government under which 
they lived. In 1S32, however, soon after he had 
entered on the discharge of his functions, the contest 
known as the Black-Hawk war began. Terminated 
by the brilliant affair of the Bad-Axe, by General 
Atkinson, and the admirable arrangements of Gene- 
ral Scott, it remains a trophy of the good manage- 
ment of the department, and of the military talents 
of those distinguished officers. 

General Cass in his annual report, dated Novem- 
ber 25, 1832, to the President, thus speaks of this 
campaign : 

" General Atkinson, with the regular troops and 
militia under his command, pursued the Indians 
through a country very difficult to be penetrated, 
of winch little was known, and where much exer- 
tion was required to procure regular supplies. 
These circumstances necessarily delayed the opera- 
tions, and were productive of great responsibility to 
the commanding officer, and of great sufferings and 
privations to all employed in this harassing warfare. 
The Indians, however, were driven from their fast- 
nesses, and fled towards the Mississippi, with the 
intention of seeking refuge in the country west of 
that river. They were immediately followed by 
General Atkinson, with a mounted force, overtaken, 
and completely vanquished. The arrangements of 
the commanding general, as well in the pursuit as 
in the action, were prompt and judicious, and the 
conduct of the officers and men was exemplary. 
The campaign terminated in the unqualified submis- 
sion of the hostile party, and in the adoption of 
measures for the permanent security of the frontiers, 
and the result has produced upon the Indians of that 
region a salutary impression, which it is to be 
hoped will prevent the recurrence of similar scenes." 
On the 25th of October, 1832, General Macomb 



9*2 L I P E O P 

transmitted to General Atkinson the following letter 
from the Secretary of War. 

Department of War, Oct. 24th, 1832. 

Sir — The return of the President to the seat of 
government, enables me to communicate to you his 
sentiments in relation to the operations and result 
of the campaign, recently conducted under your or- 
ders, against the hostile Indians; and it is with 
great pleasure I have received his instructions to in- 
form you that he appreciates the difficulties you had 
to encounter, and that he has been highly gratified 
at the termination of your arduous and responsible 
duties. Great privations and embarrassments ne- 
cessarily attend such a warfare, and particularly in 
the difficult country occupied by the enemy. The 
arrangements which led to the defeat of the Indians 
were adopted with judgment and pursued with de- 
cision, and the result was honourable to yourself, 
and to the officers and men acting under your orders. 

I will thank you to communicate to the forces 
that served with you, both regulars and militia, the 
feelings of the President upon this occasion. I have 
the honour to be, very respectfully, your obedient 
servant. 

LEWIS CASS. 

Gen. H. Atkinson, Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. 

Mr. Cass, in the report referred to above, makes 
some remarks on this war, and on the character of 
the Indian nations generally, which show that he 
had fathomed the Indian character, and was quite 
aufa.it in regard to it. He says: — 

" The hostilities recently commenced by the Sauk 
and Fox Indians, may be traced to causes which 
have been for some time in operation, and which 
left little doubt upon the minds of those acquainted 
with the savage character, that they were deter- 
mined to commit some aggression upon the frontier- 
The confederated tribes ot the Sacs and Foxes have 



GENERAL CA8S. 93 

been long distinguished for their daring spirit of ad- 
venture and for their restless and reckless disposi- 
tion. At the commencement of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, one of these tribes made a desperate attempt 
to seize the post of Detroit; and during a period of 
forty years, subsequent to that effort, they caused 
great trouble and embarrassment to the French colo- 
nial government, which was only terminated by a 
most formidable military expedition, sent by that 
enterprizing people into the remote regions west 
of Green Bay. During the last war with Great 
Britain, this confederacy entered zealously into the 
contest, and was among the most active and deter- 
mined of our enemies. After the peace their com- 
munication with the Canadian authorities was pre- 
served ; and, in every year, large parties of the most 
influential chiefs and warriors visited Upper Canada, 
and returned laden with presents. That this con- 
tinued intercourse kept alive feelings of attachment 
to a foreign power, and weakened the proper and 
necessary influence of the United States, is known 
to every one who has marked the progress of events 
and conduct of the Indians upon the north-western 
frontier. The tribes upon the upper Mississippi, 
particularly the Sacs and Foxes and Winnebagoes, 
confident in their position and in their natural cou- 
rage, and being totally ignorant of the vast dispro- 
portion between their power and that of the United 
States, have always been discontented, keeping the 
frontier in alarm, and continually committing some 
outrage upon the persons or property of the inhabit- 
ants. All this is the result of impulse, and is the 
necessary and almost inevitable consequence of in- 
stitutions which make war the great object of life. 
It is not probable, that any Indian seriously bent 
upon hostilities, ever stops to calculate the force of 
the white man, and to estimate the disastrous con- 
sequences which we know must be the result. He 



94 LIFE OF 

is impelled onward in his desperate career, by pas- 
sions which are fostered and encouraged by the 
whole frame of society ; and he is, very probably, 
stimulated by the predictions of some fanatical 
leader, who promises him glory, victory and scalps. 
" In this state of feeling, and with these incite- 
ments to war, the Sacs and Foxes claimed the right 
of occupying a part of the country on Rock river, 
even after it had been sold to citizens of the United 
States, and settled by them. In 1829 and in 1830, 
serious difficulties resulted from their efforts to es- 
tablish themselves in that section, and frequent col- 
lisions were the consequence. Representations were 
made to them, and every effort, short of actual hos- 
tilities, used by the proper officers, to induce them 
to abandon their unfounded pretensions, and to con- 
fine themselves to their own country on the west 
side of the Mississippi river." 

Mr. Cass continued to discuss the circumstances 
at length, and demonstrated what should be the 
policy of the United States towards the aborigines 
for the purpose of protecting the better disposed por- 
tion of the tribe from their own disorderly numbers. 

Mawkish sensibility may, perhaps, attack some 
of the opinions expressed above; but those who 
do so, have always avowed their respect for as- 
sertions which, though they might assail them, they 
can not controvert. 

Indian difficulties, during the administration of 
the war department by General Cass, were rife. 
Besides the Florida war, in consequence of the ex- 
tension of the laws of Georgia over the Creeks and 
Cherokees, those powerful tribes became dissatisfied, 
and were on the eve of war. General Cass con- 
tributed much to their pacification, and has had the 
good fortune to see his efforts to avert strife fully 
appreciated by both the white man and the Indian. 

In 1836, Mr. Cass left the War Department for 



GENERAL CASS. 95 

France, to which country he had been appointed by 
General Jackson, minister. Of all the cabinet of 
General Jackson, he had remained longest in office, 
and probably possessed his confidence to a degree 
unsurpassed by any other man. Evidences of this 
are numerous, and in another chapter we shall have 
occasion to refer to a remarkable memento of this 
character. 



LIFE OF 



CHAPTER VI. 

Letter from General Jackson — Diplomatic Services — Indemnity 
— Eastern Tour — Quintuple Treaty. 

On the retirement of General Cass from the War 
Bureau, he received from the President a letter 
which fully expressed the confidence between them, 
and the great satisfaction of General Jackson at the 
manner in which the new minister had presided 
over the important department of war. 

The mission was an important one, diplomatic ne- 
gotiations having been interrupted in consequence 
of the non-payment of the French indemnity for spo- 
liations on our commerce. Under these circum- 
stances, Mr. Cass was ordered by General Jackson 
to proceed to France and there ascertain what were 
the feelings of the French government. In October 
of that year he left New York, and on his arrival in 
London he learned that a French minister had been 
appointed to the United States. He therefore im- 
mediately proceeded to Paris and established him- 
self there. Scarcely had he been presented when 
he commenced his efforts to procure the interest on 
the indemnity of the twenty-five millions'of francs, 
which strangely enough had been retained at the 
time the principal was paid. In this he was suc- 
cessful, and he thus had the satisfaction of terminat- 
ing the dispute, which at one time had seemed so 
perilous to the peace of the litigating powers. 

In the great metropolis of Europe, General Cass 
attracted much attention; a new man from a region 
of the United States of great interest to France, a 
dependency of which it had been, not only diplo- 






GENERAL CASS. 97 

matists, but men of letters, hurried to meet him. 
That position he maintained. 

The interruption of diplomatic intercourse be- 
tween France and the United States had caused a 
great accumulation of business in the offices of the 
American legation, to the dispatch of which, 
General Cass gave all the resources of his mind, and 
in 1837 he had brought about such a state of order 
that he was enabled to make his extensive tour in 
Italy and the East. 

Passing first to Italy, he visited its cities and 
ruins, whence he proceeded to Messina, in Sicily, 
Malta, the picturesque and classic Greece, the beau- 
tiful islands of the Archipelago, Turkey in Europe, 
Egypt, Palestine, Syria, and the shores of the Eux- 
ine. He visited the spots made memorable by the 
contests of other days, the ruined temples of art, and 
the places made holy by the early history of Chris- 
tianity. Fresh from the primeval grandeur of the 
new world, he saw the great contrast to the scenes 
among which he had been brought up, and appre- 
ciated the lessons taught by their history. One who 
had stood upon the ruins of the Aztec race which 
preceded the present Indian of America, would 
aptly comment on, and in his own mind profit by 
the teachings of the seat of Troy, Tyre, Sidon, Pal- 
myra in the desert, and Damascus. 

General Cass returned to Europe with improved 
health and vigour, for he had suffered much from 
his arduous duties in the department of war, and at 
Paris. His travels, however, had not been only on 
that account valuable. He had during his tour ac- 
quired a perfect knowledge of the defects and faults 
of -the consular system of the United States, and 
with their commercial and diplomatic interest in that 
far-off land. The result of this tour communicated 
to the departments of state and the treasury, in many 
and important documents, some day must command 
attention, and be the nucleus around which will be 
9 



98 L I F E O F 

formed a new theory of trade and intercourse with 
the half-civilized and down-trodden nations he vi- 
sited. No American who visited Paris while Gene- 
ral Cass was the representative of the United States, 
will fail to remember the courtesy and delicacy of 
the envoy. His house was always open to Ameri- 
can citizens, and he became proverbial for kindness 
and ^hospitality. His expenses during his mission 
far exceeded his salary, and could only have been 
met by the possession of an ample private fortune, 
which long toil and far-seeing prudence had enabled 
General Cass to accumulate. At the same time, 
that his expenditures were liberal, all vain ostenta- 
tion was avoided, and he was unanimously acknow- 
ledged as the worthy representative of a great and 
free people. 

Kindly received by Louis Philippe, who at that 
time was in character and disposition far different 
from what he became during the few years imme- 
diately previous to the destruction of his throne and 
dynasty, General Cass was admitted almost to the 
fire-side of the menage of the king of the French. 
His observations were founded on the most demo- 
cratic interpretation of the scenes and things he 
witnessed. It has become the fashion since the depo- 
sition of Louis Philippe to decry the tone and char- 
acter of this work, which was published in the 
Democratic Review, but those who do so are per- 
sons who have never read it, and are ignorant 
of its tone and context. It will bear the most 
rigid scrutiny, and is a masterly sketch of Louis 
Philippe as he was, and of the social condition of 
France at that day. The title of this essay, " France, 
its King, Court, and Government," deserves serious 
attention, in spite of all that has occurred since in 
France. Among other literary papers he published 
in this country, was one upon the French tribunals 
of justice, which contained much information inter- 
esting to an American, and in which the author ex- 



GENERAL CASS. 99 

pressed his decided condemnation of the system of 
the English common law, looking upon it as a code 
originating in feudal and almost semi-barbarous 
times, and utterly unsuited to our condition and 
institutions. Since that day, the majority of the 
intelligent men of the age, and all of those who 
labour, have become Converts to this opinion, which 
ultimately is destined to force reform and drive to 
honest lives those who live by fraud and chicanery. 

The interests of the United States perhaps never 
were more faithfully attended to than by Mr. Cass 
while in France. Many minor difficulties were 
satisfactorily adjusted, and the reputation of Ame- 
rican diplomacy greatly exalted. During this time, 
permission was obtained for a commission of young 
American officers of cavalry and artillery to attend 
the military schools of France, and the concession 
was immediately made available. This, done at 
the instance of Governor Cass, has been most im- 
portant, and its effects may be traced in every con- 
test of the present Mexican war, where the tactics 
and strategic knowledge of the American army has 
been conspicuous. 

In 1841, a serious matter arose, and a plan was 
formed, which, had it not been frustrated in the 
germ, must have placed the United States either in 
the predicament of base submission to outrage or 
embroiled them in a war with all the naval powers 
of Europe. The tenacity with which the British 
government adheres to its plans has become a fixed 
and notorious fact, and its pretensions to the supre- 
macy and control of the seas, which since the days 
of Van Tromp had been the cause of so much 
bloodshed, were now advanced again under a new 
form. The war against the United States in 1812, 
which began for the defence of sailors' rights, had 
brought into the field thousands of men who never 
saw the ocean, and caused large armies to penetrate 
the North American forests, were lost on its ex- 



100 LIFE OF 

perience; and under the pretence of putting an end 
to the African slave-trade, a treaty was formed, by 
virtue of which the men-of-war of Great Britain 
were authorized to search and seize all other vessels 
they might please to consider engaged in this traffic. 
The plan was specious ; its ostensible object was to 
seize participators in what the laws of all Christian 
states had declared piracy, and to succour suffering 
humanity. This treaty was fortunately, however, 
suffered to transpire before its ratification, though 
it had actually been signed by the representatives 
of England, France, Austria, Prussia, and Russia. 
The character of these governments was such as to 
induce suspicion. It was little likely that Great 
Britain, which at that time was transporting ne- 
groes as apprentices for seven years to colonies, where 
the average duration of labourers' lives is five, which 
forcibly enlisted captured Africans in her military 
service, and oppressed all those within her power, 
that France, which had slave-holding colonies and 
waged a w T ar of extermination in Africa, that Rus- 
sia with its millions of serfs, and the two other 
powers, in which freedom had never existed, were 
in earnest in their professed regard towards the 
rights of African nations. Closer inquiry unfolded 
the nefarious design to General Cass, and in a mas- 
terly pamphlet, which was immediately translated 
into German and French, he held up the scheme to 
public infamy. This gave to his name great cele- 
brity, and, eloquently written, his work commanded 
universal attention. In this treaty, the moving 
power was Great Britain, which would have alone 
profited by it directly, and therefore had offered to 
the other powers inducements of various kinds to 
secure their consent. So anxious were the prime 
movers of this scheme to array the strength of 
Europe against the United States, if they should 
resist, that in case of the ratification of the treatv, 
Prussia, which had not at that time a single armed 



GENERAL CASS. 101 

vessel, was to be transformed by diplomatic jugglery 
and the present of an armed marine, selected from 
the worn-out vessels in the British or French sea- 
ports, into a naval power. 

There had always been a great jealousy in France 
especially of the English superiority at sea, and this 
feeling was fully aroused. The journals and popu- 
lace began to declaim against this and all other 
schemes, and the treaty was, in consequence of the 
withdrawal of France, never ratified by Russia, 
Prussia, or Austria, which had been the dupes or 
tools of England. 

Previous however to this, General Cass had 
written a formal protest to M. Guizot against the 
treaty, and concluded thus : 

% " As soon as I can receive despatches from the 
United States, in answer to my communications, I 
shall be enabled to declare to you either that my 
conduct has been approved by the President, or that 
my mission is terminated." 

The President of the United States had however 
approved of his course, and a power greater than 
his, that of the people, ratified the conduct of their 
ambassador, and every heart in the nation beat high 
when the following memorable passage was read : 

" But the subject assumes another aspect, when 
they [the American people] are told by one of the 
parties that their vessels are to be forcibly entered 
and examined, in order to carry into effect these 
stipulations. Certainly the American government 
does not believe that the high powers, contracting 
parties to this treaty, have any wish to compel the 
United States, by force, to adapt their measures to 
its provisions or to adopt its stipulations. They 
have too much confidence in their sense of justice 
to fear any such result ; and they will see with plea- 
sure the prompt disavowal made by yourself, sir, in 
the name of your country, at the tribune of the 
Chamber of Deputies, of anv intentions of this na- 
9* 



102 LIFE OF 

ture. But were it otherwise, and were it possible 
they might be deceived in this confident expectation, 
that would not alter in one tittle their course of 
action. Their duty would be the same, and the 
same would be their determination to fulfil it. They 
would prepare themselves, with apprehension in- 
deed, but without dismay — with regret, but with 
firmness — for one of those desperate struggles which 
have sometimes occurred in the history of the world, 
but where a just cause and the favour of providence 
have given strength to comparative weakness and 
enabled it to break down the pride of power." . 

M. Guizot replied in the amicable tone, that 
France had no evil intentions against the United 
States, and, as stated above, the treaty, worthless 
without the co-operation of France, failed. 

The strongest evidence of the important services 
rendered by General Cass in the frustration of this 
scheme, was the unmitigated abuse heaped on him 
by the British press: whig, tory, radical and con- 
servative, all forgot their many points of difficulty 
and difference, to censure one who in so tender a 
point as the supremacy of the seas, had injured the 
national susceptibility. This however was to be 
expected, but it became a matter of surprise that in 
the United States a party was found which cen- 
sured the minister for thus protecting the national 
honour. Able men were found in this clique, and 
strange things were said and done, which now are 
forgotten, w T hile the value of Governor Cass's ser- 
v ices are distinctly appreciated. 

The administration of Mr. Van Buren passed 
away, and when the difficulties between Great Bri- 
tain and the United States in relation to the north- 
eastern frontier began, the late distinguished Lord fc 
Ashburton came to the United States as ambassador 
extraordinary. As an appendix to the treaty nego- 
tiated between him and Mr. Webster, was a clause 
binding the United States to co-operate in striking 



GENERAL C&.SS. 103 

down all their own efforts to secure the freedom of 
the seas. What the inducement to do this was, has 
never been explained, nor has the world been able to 
understand what Africa and the slave-trade had to 
do with the north-eastern boundary. 

In a despatch of Governor Cass to the State de- 
partment, written September 17th, 1842, occurs the 
following passage : 

"It is unnecessary to push these considerations 
further; and in carrying them thus far, I have found 
the task an unpleasant one. Nothing but justice to 
myself could have induced me to do it. I could not 
clearly explain my position here without recapitula- 
tion. My protest of 13th February, distinctly as- 
serted that the United States would resist the pre- 
tension of England to search our vessels. I avowed, 
at the same time, that this was but my personal de- 
claration, liable to be confirmed or disavowed by 
my government. I now find a treaty has been con- 
cluded between Great Britain and the United States, 
which provides for the co-operation of the latter in 
efforts to abolish the slave-trade, but which contains 
no renunciation by the former of the extraordinary 
pretensions, resulting, as she said, from the exigen- 
cies of these very efforts ; and which pretension I 
felt it to be my duty to denounce to the French 
government. In all this, I presume to offer no fur- 
ther judgment than as I am personally affected by 
the course of the proceedings, and I feel they have 
placed me in a false position, whence I can escape 
but by returning home with the least possible delay. 
I trust, therefore, that the President will have felt no 
hesitation in granting me the permission which I 
asked for." 

He obtained permission to return, and in two 
months was making preparations to revisit the Uni- 
ted States. 

Previous to the departure of Mr. Cass, on his 
eastern tour, he became involved in a controversy 



104 LIFE OF 

in relation to the unfortunate Florida war, produced 
by some reflections General Clinch, then of the army, 
had made on Mr. Cass, in his testimony before the 
court of inquiry, assembled at Frederick, Maryland, 
in 1837, to investigate the difficulties between Ge- 
nerals Scott and Gaines. The following indignant 
reply written at Paris, best explains itself and the 
conduct of Mr. Cass while Secretary at War. 

"A friend has sent me a short extract from the 
evidence, recently given before the military court 
at Frederick, by General Clinch, together with copies 
of some letters presented by him. In his testimony, 
General Clinch charges me with neglecting to make 
adequate preparations for the defence of Florida, 
upon his representations, during the progress of the 
difficulties with the Seminole Indians, and for some 
time after the commencement of hostilities. 

" The failure of a campaign is an old subject for 
crimination and recrimination. In all ages and na- 
tions it has been fertile in disputes, sometimes con- 
fined to the officers themselves, and sometimes ex- 
tending to the administration of the government. 
Knowing that while jn the department of war, I 
anxiously endeavoured to fulfil the duty which the 
troubles with the Seminoles imposed upon the go- 
vernment, and satisfied, on as dispassionate a review 
as a person can be expected to take in a matter 
which so nearly concerns him, that that duty was 
faithfully performed, I am not willing to be subject 
to the imputation which General Clinch has so 
cavalierly cast upon me. If the course of events in 
Florida, whether attributable to imbecility, to mis- 
fortune, or to circumstances beyond control, may 
seem to the military commanders to require a pro- 
pitiatory sacrifice, I shall most assuredly not sub- 
mit to receive upon my head their maledictions 
without an appeal to the justice of my countrymen. 
That appeal I am now led to make; but, in the per- 
formance of this task, it is not my object to assail 






GENERAL CASS. 105 

any one. I carry on no Carthaginian warfare, and 
shall confine myself to repelling a serious imputa- 
tion laid upon me. I beg that it may be recollected 
that I am far from home, and that 1 am destitute of 
many documents essential to a full investigation of 
the statement of General Clinch. I have no papers 
upon the subject excepting those already alluded to 
— the two pamphlets of documents published by 
order of congress in the session of 1835 and 1836, 
and for which I am indebted to the same friend, and 
the defence of General Scott, published in the Na- 
tional Intelligencer. For all else, I must rely upon 
my memory ; but I trust I shall commit no import- 
ant error. I am sure I shall commit no intentional 
one. 

" An examination of the general course of opera- 
tions in Florida does not come within the scope of 
inquiry which I propose to myself. It is enough, 
upon this point, to say that each of the command- 
ing minerals serving in that country after the com- 

ft ft ft » 

mencement of hostilities, had carta blanche as to 
men, and means, and plans. Their measures were 
left to their own discretion ; and they were author- 
ized to call from the neighbouring states such force 
as they might judge adequate to the attainment of 
the objects committed to them; and . the various 
military departments were directed to provide and 
furnish all the supplies demanded. It follows, of 
course, that the government was not responsible for 
results. They did what every wi-e government 
should do in such a juncture. They sanctioned the 
full employment of all the means judged necessary 
by those upon whom was to devolve the conduct of 
the war. The main reliance was necessarily upon 
the militia. The small amount of our regular army, 
its dispersed condition, and the numerous points it 
is called upon to maintain, rendered it impracticable 
to carry on operations by its means alone; and, 
added to these considerations, there were, during a 



106 LIFE OF 

part of the Seminole campaign, strong reasons, 
which all will appreciate, having reference to our 
foreign relations, which rendered it inexpedient to 
withdraw all the troops from the Atlantic and the 
south-western frontiers. 

" After the incipient measures, the actual and only 
responsibility of the government was in the selec- 
tion of the officers to command. Upon this point 
I have nothing to say. I would not utter a word 
of reproach against any of the gallant men who 
have served in Florida. I would not, if I could, 
tarnish a single laurel gathered in other and happier 
fields. The difficulties they had to encounter were 
great, and in some points unexpected. And I be- 
lieve that the general conduct of our officers and 
soldiers, during this trying warfare, was worthy of 
the best period in our military annals. Of the mili- 
tary service and claims of General Scott, few have 
a higher estimate than I have, and no person has 
heard me utter a sentiment of disrespect towards 
him. Nor shall I reproach myself for any part 
which I took in his selection for the command. Suc- 
cess is not always a true test of merit, nor the want 
of it of incapacity. When General Scott took the 
command the season of operations was short. Every 
thing was to collect, to combine, to organize. I saw 
his difficulties then, and I can still better appreciate 
them now. 

" I may be permitted to say, however, that his plan 
of operations did not seem to me well adapted to 
the nature of the country and the habits of the ene- 
my; and this fact is known to some of the persons 
officially connected with me in the war department. 
The opinion of the president upon this subject w 7 as 
still stronger, and is, of course, entitled to much 
more weight than mine. I recollect perfectly his 
views, when the letter of General Scott, disclosing 
his plan, was read to him. But any change by the 
authority of the government, would have been a 



GENERAL CASS. 



107 



hazardous experiment. General Scott was upon 
the spot, with the best means of information, and 
with all the intelligence and experience necessary 
to devise and to execute. To have overruled him 
would have been to assume a most fearful responsi- 
bility, and to direct the details of a campaign in an 
Indian country at the distance of a thousand miles. 
" I observe in General Scott's defence a quota- 
tion from the testimony of Captain Thruston, a 
most intelligent officer, by which it appears that 
the first impression upon his mind was unfavourable 
to the contemplated plan, but that subsequent expe- 
rience had corrected this opinion. Not having had 
the advantage enjoyed by Captain Thruston, of a 
personal knowledge of the course of operations in 
Florida, it will not, I trust, be imputed to any un- 
just prejudice, that I participated in the opinion of 
an officer who is held in high esteem by General 
Scott, and that I retained that opinion, not having 
seen any sufficient reason for changing it. I did 
not see how a combined operation against such an 
enemy as the Indians, here to-day and gone to-mor- 
row, and whose presence is seldom known but by 
their assaults, could be carried on simultaneously 
from three points so distant as Volusia, Fort Drane 
and Tampa Bay, with any reasonable hope of a co- 
operation, which would bring the enemy to action, 
and at the same time prevent his escape. I did not 
think that when these masses were brought to a 
point — when the net was drawn — that the game 
would be caught. I am free, however, to confess 
that I have now doubts whether any other plan 
would have succeeded better at that time, and with- 
in the short space remaining for the service of the 
militia, and for the season of operations ; and as 
neither of the columns was attacked, no positive 
injury resulted from the division. The enemy was 
sought and could not be found. 

" But to the main point of this appeal. General 



108 LIFE OF 

Clinch was asked by the court, ' What in your 
opinion prevented the subjection of the Seminole 
Indians in the campaign conducted bv General Scott, 
m Florida, in 1836?' 

" To this General Clinch answers in substance, 
that it was owing to the neglect of the head of the 
war department in not having made more adequate 
preparations in 1835, and early in 1836. In other 
words, because there were not troops enough in 
Florida to prevent the Indians from commencing 
hostilities, therefore the campaign to reduce them 
was unsuccessful. I leave to the court itself and 
to General Clinch the task of reconciling this an- 
swer with the question itself, and the objects of the 
inquiry. The causes of the Indian hostilities, or 
the measures taken by the government to prevent 
them previously to the assumption of the command 
by General Scott, were not subjects before the 
court. They were questions of public policy, pro- 
perly cognizable by congress alone, and which had 
more than once engaged the attention of that body. 
But between them and the nature of the military 
operations there was no just connection; and whe- 
ther there were in the country, before the war, ten 
men or ten thousand, was a question having no re- 
lation to the duties of the court or the conduct of 
General Scott. 

"But General Clinch goes still further; quite far 
enough indeed to disclose that his feelings were so 
much excited, as to weaken very much his per- 
ceptions of what he owed to the court, to himself, 
and to me. He says, ' when at last the honourable 
secretary awoke from his dreams of political pre- 
ferment, and turned his attention,' &c. And this 
General Clinch says, as a witness, under the sanc- 
tion of an oath. He undertakes to dive into the 
recesses of the human heart, not as a matter of spe- 
culation, but of assertion ; and to pronounce on the 
witness' stand, not only that I neglected my duty, 



OENEltAL CASS. 109 

but upon the motives which influenced me. Whe- 
ther in the alleged neglect, or in the motives as- 
signed, he is right, I shall leave to our common 
country to decide. I may be allowed, however, to 
say, that 1 trust this paper will be read by some, and 
by some who enjoy the confidence of their country, 
who will exonerate me from the charge of over- 
weening ambition. I am sure General Clinch, in 
his cooler moments, will be satisfied that he has 
done me wrong. I do not know him personally, 
but those who do, speak of him as a man of high 
honour. I saw in a newspaper, a short time since, 
an account of a dinner given, I think, to General 
Clinch in Florida. An address made by him upon 
that occasion, discloses undoubtedly the wrongs 
which he supposes he has received at my hands, and 
the feelings which this sentiment has inspired. He 
attributed to me his being superseded in command, 
and to the president the return of his commission, 
which he had tendered, accompanied with the hope 
he would continue in service. He evidently sup- 
posed that I had purposely injured him, and that the 
mark of favour he received was without my par- 
ticipation, or against my consent. I owe to General 
Clinch no explanation. A morbid sensibility, or some 
other motive not more worthy of tolerance, lias led 
him to mistake his own claims and situation, and to 
become the vehicle of unjust imputations. But as 
this subject has excited much discussion, and con- 
nects itself with the purpose of this statement, I 
think it right to allude briefly to the causes which 
led to the change of command. 

" Two reasons produced this measure. The occur- 
rences in Florida in the month of December, 1835, 
information of which reached Washington in Janu- 
ary, 1836, led to the conviction, that measures upon 
a more enlarged scale had become necessary, and 
at the same time reports were received, indicating 
that the Creeks had manifested a determination to 
10 



110 LIFE OP 

join the Seminoles in hostilities. As two series of 
operations, under different officers, against enemies 
near enough to co-operate, and with the same ha- 
bits, feelings, and objects, were to be avoided, if 
practicable, and as the amount of force to be called 
into service might be such as to justify the states 
furnishing troops, in sending into the field major- 
generals with their requisitions, it was obviously- 
necessary to vest the principal command in an offi- 
cer of the highest rank in our service. It was very 
desirable to have an officer of established character 
and experience, particularly in a duty involving 
such a heavy responsibility in its expenditures; and 
not to leave the command to fluctuate, as general 
officers of the militia might be called into or retire 
from service. General Clinch was a brevet briga- 
dier-general, and therefore liable to be superseded 
by a major-general of the militia. 

" But there was a still stronger reason for this mea- 
sure. It will be recollected that the disaster which 
befel Major Dade, and the exposed condition of Flo- 
rida, painfully excited the public mind, particular- 
ly in the southern states. Spontaneous movements 
were made in that quarter for raising troops, and 
the patriotism of the country called into service 
many corps, before the state of affairs could be 
known at Washington. The government was re- 
quired by public opinion, as well as by the higher 
obligation of duty, to take the most immediate and 
efficient measures for the suppression of hostilities. 
General Clinch was isolated in the heart of Florida. 
In fact, his true position was necessarily unknown, 
for events were every moment changing, and the 
aspect of affairs becoming worse. His communica- 
tions might at any moment have been intercepted, 
himself remain ignorant of the measures of the go- 
vernment, and they of his situation and designs. 
General Scott was in Washington. No time would 
be lost in giving him the necessary instructions, and 



GENERAL CASS 



111 



his route would lead him through South Carolina 
and Georgia, whence most of the force had to be 
drawn. While a despatch was travelling to General 
Clinch, General Scott could be in the southern coun- 
try, organizing his force and plans. And besides, 
such a" despatch might have failed or been inter- 
cepted, and then in what condition would the coun- 
try have been? and to what just censure would the 
government have been exposed ? And even should 
the necessary authority reach General Clinch, much 
time must be lost in returning upon the route with 
his communications. He could not leave his com- 
mand : affairs were too critical. And it must be ob- 
vious, that the arrangements for such a campaign as 
was contemplated, could not be made without the 
presence and personal co-operation of the officer 
destined to command. The remedy for all this was 
obvious. And was the government to be deterred 
from adopting it, because General Clinch might 
choose to consider it a reflection upon him? There 
were much higher considerations involved in this 
affair than General Clinch seems to appreciate. He 
never had the slightest reason to consider himself 
injured. A just sensitiveness is an honourable feel- 
ing in a military man; but if carried too far it de- 
generates into mortified vanity. All governments 
have at all times assumed and exercised the right of 
changing their commanding officers at pleasure ; and 
especially so when the sphere of operations is en- 
larged. 

" I trust I have said enough to show that this 
measure was not intended to cast, nor did it cast, 
the slightest reflection upon General Clinch. As to 
the selection of a successor, with every just allow- 
ance for General Clinch, it may be safely said that 
he had won his way to this command by high and 
honourable services. 

" With respect to the return of General Clinch's 
commission, I have only to say, that I proposed the 



112 LIFE OF 

measure to the president, by whom it was cordially 
approved ; as was also the assignment of General 
Scott io the command. 

'• I see that General Scott, in his defence, appreci- 
ates the excited feelings of General Clinch, and finds 
it necessary to discredit one of the answers of the 
latter, and to trace his erroneous judgment to the 
species of hallucination under which he appears to 
labour. It seems that General Clinch has been asked 
whether the operations of General Gaines had in- 
terfered with the projects and arrangements of Gene- 
ral Scott. The answer of General Clinch w r as in 
the negative, and the solution of this answer by 
General Scott is given in the following remark, in 
the defence of the latter; " Under this ruling idea, 
the witness, General Clinch, could see nothing but 
the imputed errors of the war department." Indeed ! 
and is this the judgment of General Scott, upon the 
state of mind of the principal witness who appears 
to arraign the proceedings of the executive? I need 
not add to this rebuke : far more severe than any 
thing I have said, or desire to say. 

" General Scott likewise adds his conviction that 
* the repeated calls and wise admonitions' of General 
Clinch were neglected. This point I shall examine 
by and by ; and if it is not shown that the precautions 
taken to prevent the commission of hostilities by the 
Seminolos were greater than have ever been adopted, 
when the strength of the enemv is taken into view, 
since the discovery of the continent, I will confess 
that I have read our history to little purpose. 

"One act of voluntary justice General Scott has 
done to the war department ; and I appreciate it the 
more, as it stands out in solitary relief. He says, * I 
do not mean to intimate, Mr. President, that any 
time was lost by the war department in putting me 
in motion, after the news of Clinch's affair of Decem- 
ber 31, which preceded at Washington the account 
of Major Dade's melancholy fate on the 28th.' And 



GENERAL CASS. 113 

yet the concession is not much to make. The 
slightest attention to the dates, as recorded in the 
adjutant-general's report of February 9, 1836, pub- 
lished by order of congress, will show that the ac- 
tion of the department was not less prompt upon 
that occasion than upon all others. 

" Unofficial information of General Clinch's action 
reached Washington on the 17th of January ; and 
on the same day a plan of operations was devised, 
and the necessary instructions given toGeneral Eustis 
for its execution, to provide, as far as seemed ne- 
cessary, for the vigorous prosecution of the war. 
The measures will be stated in the sequel. But 
three days later, to wit: on the 20th, reports were 
received that the Creeks meditated hostilities; and 
it was therefore deemed necessary, as already stat- 
ed, to enlarge the sphere of operations, and to call 
General Scott to the command; and this was done, 
and detailed instructions prepared and delivered to 
General Scott on the next day. So much for the 
general's willingness to spare any intimation of an 
unnecessary delay upon this occasion. If it were 
necessary to allude to the matter at all, would it not 
have been more just, more noble, more in consonance, 
I may add, with the character of General Scott, for 
him to have said, plainly and explicitly, that never 
were more prompt or decisive measures taken than 
upon that occasion — measures, whose discussion and 
consideration, as General Scott must w T ell remember, 
extended far into the night, and broke upon his rest, 
as well as upon mine ? 

" Rumours of Indian disturbances are matters of 
frequent occurrence. Sometimes these have been 
followed by hostilities, but more frequently they 
have proved unfounded. It is obviously impractica- 
ble to keep a superior force to the Indians upon every 
point of our extended and exposed frontier ; and 
were troops collected upon every rumour, the coun- 
try would be subjected to enormous expense, and 
10* 



114 LIFE O-F 

the army and militia to perpetual fatigue. It is the 
duty of the government then, to act prudently, as 
well as promptly, upon these occasions; and while 
efficient measures are adopted where they appear 
necessary, to withhold them where they do not, and 
to preserve in these measures a just proportion to 
the strength of the Indians, and the probability of 
their hostile designs. 

" What was the amount of the white population 
of Florida in 1835, I have not the means of ascer- 
taining. I suppose, however, that it exceeded 
30,000. It is necessary to keep this fact in view 
while looking at the course of events; because each 
part of our frontier must be expected to supply a 
considerable proportion of the force at any time re- 
quired to repel sudden aggression of the Indians 
If I have made a reasonable approximation towards 
the population of Florida, it will be found that no 
one has ever estimated the whole number of the Se- 
minoles at more than one-sixth of this population, 
and that the official reports in the archives of the 
department reduced them to one-tenth. There was 
then near the theatre of difficulties a permanent 
force, ready to aid the efforts of the army, and 
amply sufficient, agreeably to all preceding experi- 
ence, to restrain or subdue the Indians. Let me 
ask the frontier inhabitants of the west, from one 
end of the great valley of the Mississippi to the 
other — those who are now in contact with the In- 
dians, and those who have purchased security, by 
years of wars and sufferings — whether they do not 
think the government would at all times have dis- 
charged its duties towards them, by making arrange- 
ments for more than one regular soldier for each war- 
rior within strikingdistance, and among a white popu- 
lation outnumbering the Indians at least six to one, 
and probably ten to one? and yet this was done in 
Florida. Our settlements would never have crossed 
the Alleghany, if our forefathers had found it neces- 



GENERAL CASS. 115 

sary to prosecute Indian wars upon a larger scale 

than this. 

" A treaty had been formed with the Seminole In- 
dians, providing for their removal west of the Mis- 
sissippi ; and from the time which had elapsed, and 
the reluctance manifested by the Indians to remove, 
it had become necessary to take measures for carry- 
ing the treaty into effect. But all the difficulties 
anticipated with this tribe, were expected to result 
from the contemplated movement ; and no one look- 
ed to hostile demonstrations on the part of the In- 
dians, until and unless they were required to emi- 
grate. I doubt whether there was scarcely a per- 
son in Florida who was prepared to hear of any 
hostile movement by these Indians, before the ar- 
rival of the period fixed for their departure. Governor 
Caton distinctly stated in a letter to me, that their 
hostilities were entirely unexpected at that time by 
the people of Florida; and he informed me that the 
same sentiment had been communicated to the de- 
partment by the secretary of the territory. The 
whole correspondence of General Clinch, until a 
very short period preceding the commencement of 
actual hostilities, indicates the same opinion. I 
mention the circumstance to show that the govern- 
ment had a right to suppose that General Clinch had 
ample time to collect all his force, and to anticipate 
the Indians, should he become satisfied of their hos- 
tile designs. 

* An important element in this inquiry is the 
amount of the Seminole population. Captain Thrus- 
fcon, I observe, estimates them in his testimony at 
5,000, and I have never heard a higher estimate put 
upon their numbers. Lieutenant Harris, a very in- 
telligent officer, charged with the duty of providing 
and distributing the articles stipulated by the treaty 
to be given to the Indians, and well acquainted with 
them, estimated them in a report to the war de- 
partment as not exceeding 3,000, including negroes, 



116 LIFE OF 

of which 1,600 were females. This was the latest 
report upon the subject, and derived value from the 
fact, that as certain articles w 7 ere to be distributed 
to each Seminole, and as Lieutenant Harris had this 
duty to perform, it was obviously proper for him to 
use his best exertions to ascertain the full number, 
in order to avoid all complaints at the distribution, 
as it was obviously the policy of these Indians not 
to diminish in their report their actual number. 

" General Thompson, the Indian agent, a most re- 
spectable citizen and valuable officer, known to many 
as a representative in congress from Georgia, in a 
letter to the commissary-general of subsistence, of 
August 29, 1835, says : ' 1 have resorted to all prac- 
ticable means of information to ascertain, with a 
probable approach to precision, the actual number 
of the Seminole people, and I am induced to believe 
it very little exceeds 3,000.' 

"General Scott, in one of his reports, after his 
campaign, stated that there had never been 500 
Indian warriors collected together at one time, in 
Florida. I quote from memory, but I cannot be 
deceived in the fact. The President supposed their 
whole force did not exceed 500. Previous circum- 
stances had given to him very favourable opportuni- 
ties of forming a correct opinion on this subject. 
It will also be recollected, that no one expected the 
whole of the Indian force would be opposed to us. 
A considerable party was desirous of emigrating; 
and it has often, perhaps I may say almost always, 
happened, in our later Indian wars, that, on the oc- 
currence of hostilities with any of the tribes within 
our borders, a division of the tribe has taken place, 
and the seceding party has either remained neutral 
or joined us ; and in the case of the Seminoles, a 
band, I think, of about 500, left their people at the 
commencement of hostilities, and placed themselves 
within our lines. 

" In the report, already alluded to, of the adjutant- 



GENERAL CASS. 



117 



general, is embodied a report from the commissioner 
of Indian affairs upon this subject ; in which he 
states, that assuming the estimate of Lieutenant 
Harris as correct, and supposing the Seminoles 
equally divided on the question of emigration, there 
would be 700 Seminole males, children and adults, 
forming the hostile party. He supposes that not 
more than one-half of this, to wit, 350 persons, were 
fit to bear arms ; but he adds, that this hostile party 
may have received accessions from the other party, 
and alsp from the Creeks. I believe it has been found 
that few, if any, of the Creeks joined the Seminoles. 

" Under all these circumstances, I thought then, 
and I yet think, that the estimate of 500 hostile 
warriors was sufficiently high. I do not answer 
for the accuracy of this information. I am only 
answerable for the use which was made of it. It 
formed the only basis upon which the government 
could act. I may add, what is known to all, any 
way conversant with the Indians, that their num- 
bers are generally overrated rather than underrated; 
and that in almost all the actions we have fought 
with them, subsequent information has reduced the 
estimate of the numbers originally given upon vague 
calculation. 

" It will be observed that there were two periods 
in the progress of the Seminole difficulties anterior 
to the commencement of actual hostilities : one be- 
tween the origin of these difficulties, and the pacifi- 
cation, if I may so term it, made by General Clinch, 
General Thompson, and Lieutenant Harris, with 
these Indians, in April 1835, when a mutual and 
apparently satisfactory arrangement was made with 
them, by which they agree to remove during the 
succeeding winter, and the government agreed that 
they might remain till then. The second period in- 
tervened between this time and the breaking out of 
the war. 

" It is necessary to keep in view the change of 



118 LIFE OP 

circumstances induced by this arrangement, though 
General Clinch has overlooked it in his evidence, 
as he refers, in proof of the charge he makes of the 
negligence of the government, to his letter of Ja- 
nuary, 1835, in which he asked for six additional 
companies. Now, the state of things existing when 
this application was made, and subsequent to the 
above-mentioned arrangement, was totally different, 
and General Clinch is wrong to refer to it as any 
step in the series of measures having relation to 
actual hostilities. The force in Florida inthe<spring 
of 1835, was found, by experience, to be enough. 
It accomplished its object, and led to a mutual ar- 
rangement. A person looking at the presentation 
of this letter, with the others by General Clinch, 
would suppose that it constituted one of a series 
of demands made by him, and rejected by the go- 
vernment. He would never dream that it had a 
relation to a state of things which was terminated 
peacefully and successfully; and after which the 
force under General Clinch was, for some months, 
judged sufficient by him for the protection of the 
country. While General Clinch supposed the In- 
dians altogether unfavourable to a removal, he esti- 
mated the necessary force to control them at twelve 
companies; but when they had consented to go vo- 
luntarily, he considered a less force necessary, as I 
shall show conclusively by his letters and proceed- 
ings. 

" In November, 1834, on the receipt of the first 
authentic intelligence that difficulties might pos- 
sibly occur with the Seminoles, General Clinch, an 
officer of experience and of much reputation, was 
directed to assume the command in Florida, and the 
necessary instructions were given him for his go- 
vernment. 

" In January, 1835, General Clinch asked for six 
additional companies to strengthen his command, 
with a view to the removal of the Seminole Indians 



GENERAL CASS. 119 

* in the spring,' say in April or May of that year. 
His demand was submitted to the President, who 
decided that four companies should be sent to Flo- 
rida from Fort Monroe, and that General Clinch 
should be authorised to order the company at Key 
West to join him whenever he might think proper. 
Orders for these purposes were given on the 14th 
of February, 1835. I will not enter into a consi- 
deration of the views which operated to place five, 
instead of six, companies at the disposal of General 
Clinch. It may have been error of judgment ; but 
most assuredly neglect, as intimated by himself, and 
repeated by General Scott, had no part in the mat- 
ter. When the estimated force of the Indians is 
taken into view, the just desire of circumscribing 
the expense as far as prudent, and the material fact 
that, by the treaty, only about one-third of the Se- 
minoles could be required to remove that ' spring/ 
(say short of two hundred disaffected warriors), 
the decision of the president will be thought a dis- 
creet one. But there is a still better authority, if 
possible, upon this occasion, in justification of the 
measures adopted by the government. It is the 
authority of General Clinch himself. He asked, as 
the maximum of force which could be wanted, eleven 
companies, or five hundred and fifty men. He re- 
ceived nine companies, or four hundred and fifty 
men ; and he received, also, power to order the com- 
pany from Key West to join him, which would make 
ten companies, or five hundred men. I state what 
I suppose to be about the average of the companies. 
Whether more or less is not important for my pre- 
sent purpose, which is to repel the accusation of 
having neglected General Clinch's requisitions. 
These requisitions were for companies. 

"Well, then, the force sent to General Clinch car- 
ried him through the spring. He made an arrange- 
ment with the Indians, which appeared to be satis- 
factory to them, and was so to the government, and 



120 



LIFE OP 



which quieted the frontier, and induced the general 
belief that this troublesome matter was over. His 
force was found sufficient, because his purpose was 
effected. 

" But General Clinch himself considered a less 
force than that he named, and even a less force 
than that placed at his disposal by the government, 
adequate to the objects he had to attain. He did not 
call to his aid the company from Key West ; and it is 
very important in this inquiry to remark, that while 
General Clinch now accuses the government of ne- 
glecting his application for a proper force, during that 
whole season the company at Key West, placed un- 
der his command the preceding February, almost in 
sight of Florida, and not more than one day's sail 
from its shore, was left by him upon that island, and 
never reached the sphere of his command till the 21st 
of December. The order authorising General Clinch 
to call it to his aid, must have reached him the be- 
ginning of March. During nine months, then, de- 
ducting the few days necessary to communicate his 
orders to Major Dade, and for that officer to cross 
over to the main land of Florida, General Clinch 
considered his force sufficient, or he was guilty of 
that neglect which he now charges, and, as I trust I 
have shown, vainly charges, to the government. 

'* And what stronger proof can be given of the as- 
sertion already made, that the hostile movement of 
the Indians was unexpected by him, who, of all 
others, was charged with watching and restraining 
them, than this failure to employ, for that purpose, 
all the force placed at his disposal? 

" But still further: General Clinch, in his letter to 
the war department, of April !, 1835, after stating 
his belief that an arrangement would be made which 
would quiet the Indians, and be satisfactory to the 
government, says that, ' should the chiefs come to 
the conclusion to remove quietly, it would be still 
necessary to keep the present force in Florida.' The 



GENERAL CASS. 121 

chiefs did consent to remove quietly, as has been 
already shown, and the then ' present force' was 
kept in Florida; and nothing more did General 
Clinch then demand, In all this is there any evi- 
dence of neglect .' I leave the question to the great 
tribunal of public opinion. 

" So passed the first period of the Seminole diffi- 
culties. I will merely add, upon this branch of the 
subject, that General Thompson, in a letter of June 
3, 1835, some time after the conclusion of the ar- 
rangement, reported that Powell had assented to it, 
and that he had * no doubt of his sincerity, and as 
little that the principal difficulty is surmounted.' 

" Thus matters remained till the fall, without any 
intimation from General Clinch that an additional 
force would be necessary. The first suggestion of 
this nature was made on the 12th of October, by 
Lieutenant Harris, I think, in a personal interview 
at the war department. But as General Clinch had 
not asked for the increase, it was not judged proper 
positively to direct it. But he was authorised to 
call for two more companies ; one from Pensacola 
and one from Mobile, if he thought them necessary ; 
and orders were issued to the commanding officers 
of those companies to hold themselves in. readiness 
for an immediate movement. 

" On the 21st of October, a letter was received 
from General Clinch, dated on the 9th of that month, 
1 in which he suggested the propriety of being au- 
thorised to call into service 150 mounted volunteers, 
to aid in the removal of the Indians, and to suppress 
any difficulties which might occur.' (See the report 
of the adjutant-general of February 9, 1836.) This 
report thus states the result : 

" 'But as this force was required to aid in the re- 
moval, and to prevent difficulties which were anti- 
cipated, and not to repel hostilities which had com- 
menced, or which were then impending, General 
Clinch was informed in answer, on the 22d of Octo- 
11 



122 LIFE OP 

ber, that there was no appropriation authorising the 
measure, and that the President, under existing cir- 
cumstances, did not consider that the case came 
under the constitutional power to call into service 
additional force for the defence of the country.' 

" This was the view of the President respecting 
his own powers. I am neither responsible for it, nor 
called upon to defend it. I imagine, however, that 
every dispassionate man who looks at the facts as 
they* were then known at the seat of government, 
and at the constitutional powers of the President, 
will fully approve his decision. 

"The report of the adjutant-general continues: 

" 'But he, (Gen. Clinch,) was authorised to order 
two more companies, viz. : those at forts Wood and 
Pike to join, which, with the two companies placed 
at his disposal on the 15th of October, made four 
companies of regular troops, in lieu of the mounted 
men. On the 30th of the same month, orders were 
given by the navy department to Commodore Dallas, 
to direct one of the vessels of the squadron to co- 
operate with General Clinch in his endeavour to 
effect the removal of the Seminoles. 

"'In a letter received on the 31st of October, 
General Clinch requested that three companies of 
regular troops might be added to his command. He 
was apprised, however, by previous orders, that four 
had already been placed at his disposal.' 

" General Clinch has complained that these troops 
ought to have been sent from the north, rather than 
from the points whence they were ordered. This 
was a question for the proper military officers of 
the department at Washington to decide, having re- 
ference to the wants of the service and the position 
of the troops. The subject was referred to them, 
and the selection was made of the companies enu- 
merated. One leading reason is obvious. There 
was still ground to hope that coercive measures 
might not be necessary. It was, therefore, thought 



GENERAL CASS. 



123 



better to place these additional troops under the or- 
ders of General Clinch, at the nearest points to Flo- 
rida, where they could remain, if not wanted, or 
whence he could speedily draw them, when neces- 
sary, than to order them positively into the country 
from a great distance. As to the delay in their ar- 
rival, I neither know any thing of the cause nor feel 
the slightest responsibility. There was a fault or a 
misfortune somewhere, not in giving the necessary 
directions, but in their subsequent execution. It is 
not necessary, for my purpose, to inquire where it 
was. Most assuredly, had proper diligence been 
used, the companies from Pensacola, Mobile, Lake 
Ponchartrain, and Key West, could have reached 
Tampa Bay, before the periods of their actual ar- 
rival, as shown in the report of the adjutant-general, 
to wit, the 27th of November, and the 12th, 25th, 
28th, and 31st of December. And it appears con- 
clusively that this delay did not originate in the want 
of time; for the Key West company, which might 
have been called into Florida nine months before, did 
not reach there till the 21st of December, nearly a 
month after the Pensacola company, which was only 
placed at General Clinch's disposal on the 15th of 

October. 

" The last measures directed by the government, 
before the commencement of actual hostilities, are 
stated in the same report. 

" 'In his communication from St. Augustine, dated 
the 29th of November, received on the 9th of De- 
cember, General Clinch reported that, should he find 
it necessary for the protection of the frontier settle- 
ments, he would assume the responsibility of calling 
out at least 100 mounted men, believing that the 
measure would be sanctioned by the President and 
Secretary of War. This approbation was commu- 
nicated to him on the same day; and, in addition to 
it, a letter was addressed to the governor of Florida, 
requesting him to place at the disposal of General 



124 LIFE OF 

Clinch any militia force which that officer might re- 
quire. Of this, General Clinch was informed. He 
was also informed that, at the request of General 
Hernandez, orders would be given, through the ord- 
nance department, to issue 500 muskets, and the 
necessary accoutrements, to the militia.' 

" Here terminated all the demands of General 
Clinch for troops, prior to the commencement of hos- 
tilities; with this exception, however, that, on the 
9th of December, he suggested the expediency of 
substituting four companies from the north instead 
of the four ordered from the south, as the latter might 
not reach the country. But, at the moment when the 
letter was written, one of these companies had already 
been two weeks at Tampa Bay, and all of them were 
there before the letter reached the war department. 
So that the suggestion was evidently impracticable. 

"Now let us slightly review this matter. I pass 
over the first period in order not to encumber the 
subject, and because an arrangement was made 
which for some time seemed to promise permanent 
tranquillity. 

" General Clinch had eight companies with him, 
and one more within his reach ; and these, as has 
been shown, he deemed sufficient. His next demand 
was for three more companies, and this was suc- 
ceeded and met by giving him four. He asked for 
150 mounted men, but the President did not feel au- 
thorised, in the then state of affairs, to call for them. 
He then subsequently stated he should ask the go- 
vernor of Florida for 100 men, if he should find it 
necessary for the protection of the frontiers. The 
President, believing that circumstances were then 
sufficiently menacing to justify this measure, gave 
his sanction to it; and, in addition, without any de- 
mand from General Clinch, he placed the whole m*N 
litia of the territory, through the governor, at his 
disposal. 

" Now, as a matter of fact, General Clinch had a 



GENERAL CASS 



125 



far greater force under his command than he ever 
required. I do not mean that he had collected them 
together; with that I have no concern. I have only 
to show that proper measures for that purpose were 
taken by the war department. And I have shown 
that these measures ought to have given to General 
Clinch the full complement of regular troops he 
asked for. In addition to which he embodied 500 
militia; and that force was with him, as stated by 
the adjutant-general, at the battle of the Wythla- 
coochee, on the 31st of December, 1835. Why it 
was not in the engagement has never been satisfac- 
torily explained. I believe General Clinch's personal 
conduct on that day was beyond all reproach, and 
never was the honour of the American arms more 
nobly supported, than by the regular troops. But 
this 'most favourable opportunity of terminating the 
war, by striking a decisive stroke, was lost. The 
combat was sustained by about 200 regular troops, 
aided, it is said, by twenty-five or thirty militia. 
And why was not the whole force in action ? A 
narrow stream like the Wythlacoochee ought not to 
have prevented American riflemen from crossing 
upon logs — upon rafts — by swimming their horses — 
to take part in the struggle, unequally but gallantly 
maintained by their countrymen within full sight. 
More especially as there could be no danger from 
the enemy in crossing, the regular troops covering 
the banks of the river. If I recollect correctly, the 
regulars crossed early, and it was some time after 
they had effected their passage before the action 
commenced ; the duration of the action I have not 
the means of ascertaining. The enemy was repulsed 
by 200 men. Who can" doubt but that there was 
force enough, had it been properly directed and em- 
ployed, to terminate the war at once? If these 500 
spectators had been brought into action, and the 
enemy broken and pursued by the horsemen, the 
11 * 



126 LIFE OF 

victory might have been as decisive as any of those 
gained under happier auspices in the same section 
of the union. If these troops were prevented by in- 
surmountable obstacles from participating in the 
contest, General Clinch owed to them a full develop- 
ment of the circumstances. If they were prevented 
by any less justifiable cause, General Clinch owed to 
himself, to the regular troops, to justice, and to his 
country, a plain and unequivocal disclosure of the 
truth, bear where it might. 

" So much for the year 1835. But General Clinch 
extends his charge against the war department to the 
year 1838, and continues his accusation of neglect, 
asserting that a competent force and competent sup- 
plies were not provided ' early ' in that year. 

" I suppose it will be conceded that the 8th of 
January may be fairly said to be * early' in 1830. 
Well, then, on the 8th of January, authority was 
given to General Clinch to call for any amount of 
force he might require, from the states of South 
Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama; and this measure 
was taken upon the responsibility of the department, 
and without any application from that officer, and 
the necessary requests were transmitted to the ex- 
ecutives of these states. And on the 10th and 13th 
of the same month, upon the suggestion of the war 
department, orders were given for the employment 
of three revenue cutters, and for the co-operation 
of Commodore Dallas^s squadron. 

"I suppose the 17th of January was 'early' in 
the year 1836. Well, then, upon the 17th of Janu- 
ary, fearing, from the intelligence, which every day 
became worse, that the communication with Gene- 
ral Clinch might be intercepted, and he thus pre- 
vented from executing the orders of the govern- 
ment, General Eustis, then at Charleston, was 
directed to proceed to Florida, and to take all ne- 
cessary measures to keep open the communication 



GENERAL CASS. 127 

with General Clinch, and to report to him for fur- 
ther instructions. General Eustis was directed to 
take with him the garrisons at Charleston and Sa- 
vannah, and such a portion of the South Carolina 
militia as he might deem necessary. And the go- 
vernor of that state was requested to supply him 
with the force. 

«* I suppose again, that the 21st of January, 1838, 
was 'early' in that year. Well, then, on the pre- 
vious day, the first intimation reached the depart- 
ment of the unquiet disposition of the Creeks, and 
of the probability of their joining the Semiuoles. 
It instantly became apparent that much more ex- 
tensive operations might become necessary than 
had been contemplated. It was immediately de- 
termined to adapt the measures to be taken to this 
new state of things, and General Scott, with ample 
powers, was, on the 21st, ordered to take the com- 
mand in that quarter. It is enough to repeat, that 
he had unlimited means placed at his diposal. 

" I confine myself to the measures taken for the 
employment of the proper force. This is all for 
which I feel the slightest responsibility. When a 
force is directed to any point, the proper military 
bureaus of the war department make arrangements 
with or without the conjunction of the officer com- 
manding, for all the materiel which can be required. 
And that officer has, besides, the right to make his 
requisitions, and, if necessary, to make purchases 
for every thing he needs. These are details into 
which no head of the war department can have time 
to enter, and it is precisely for their execution that 
the military bureaus are instituted. The adjutant- 
general states in the report before mentioned : * I 
have not considered it necessary to detail in this re- 
port the orders given by the various military bureaus 
of the war department, to provide the necessary 
means such as transportation, ordnance and ord- 



128 LIFE OF 

nance stores, and provisions for the operations in 
Florida. All the measures in relation to these sub- 
jects, which appeared to be necessary, were daily 
taken/ 

" I do not recollect ever to have heard it inti- 
mated that General Clinch's operations were crip- 
pled for the want of any supplies for the force 
placed at his disposal by the government. Cer- 
tainly, if such had been the case, he ought to have 
represented it, that the proper inquiries might have 
been instituted, and an adequate remedy applied. 
Without the adjutant-general's report, it might have 
been taken for granted, from the absence of all 
complaint by General Clinch, that there was no 
failure in the measures of the military bureaus at 
Washington to proportion his supplies to his force; 
but the report of that faithful and accurate officer 
sets the subject at rest. 

" I feel I violate no confidence in saying, that 
there was not a report received of the operations in 
Florida, from the first apprehension of difficulties, 
which was not submitted to the President ; nor a 
measure of any importance taken, which was not 
approved by him. It is well known, that from the 
practice and organization of our government, the 
heads of departments are in daily communica- 
tion with the President, and that all questions of 
much interest are discussed with him; and to those 
who know the habits of rigid scrutiny which Gene- 
ral Jackson carried with him into public life, I need 
not say, that no question could be presented to him 
which he did not carefully and fully consider. In 
the examination of papers, he was remarkable for 
the most patient attention ; and I will say for him 
now, in his day of retirement, what I would not 
have thus publicly said of him in the day of his 
power, that never have I known a manwho brought 
to every subject quicker power of perception, nor a 
more intuitive sagacity. 



GENERAL CASS. 129 

" I do not resort to this authority to shield my- 
self from responsibility under the constitutional pre- 
rogative of the president. I feel and acknowledge 
my own responsibility to the fullest extent, and am 
prepared to meet it. The measures directed by me 
became my measures, whether approved or not by 
the president ; but I confess, that the opinion of 
Andrew Jackson upon these subjects is interesting 
to me. I need not advert to the reasons which give 
peculiar value to his views concerning the opera- 
tions in Florida ; to his intimate knowledge of the 
country and of the Indians, acquired during years 
of service there, in a military and civil capacity; 
and to those personal claims to consideration, which 
will be as undying as the history of our country. 

" With these reflections and statements, I leave 
the charge of General Clinch to the judgment of the 
American people. If they think that the incapacity, 
or misfortunes, or dissensions of military commanders 
are to be visited upon my head, I have only to sub- 
mit, with as much resignation as may be. But I 
hope better things from the impartiality of my coun- 
trymen. I have received, during a public life of 
more than thirty years, many favours I neither ex- 
pected nor merited. I am encouraged to hope that 
when I ask only rigid justice. I shall not be found a 
vain suppliant. 

"LEWIS CASS. 

" Paris, March 6, 1837/' 

To this letter General Clinch replied, and the 
whole Florida campaigns were again fought on 
paper, and enough was elicited to prove satisfac- 
torily the prudence of the secretary. When the 
Florida war was ultimately terminated by General 
Worth, it was by operations in accordance with the 
suggestions of Mr. Cass. 

This is the place to refer to a very remarkable let- 
ter of General Jackson to Mr* Cass, in which, though 



130 LIFE OF 

written some months after, he refers to the circum- 
stances described above, and shows how high an es- 
timate was placed upon Mr. Cass's labours by the 
venerable ex-president. 

Hermitage, July, 1843. 

My dear Sir : — I have the pleasure to acknow- 
ledge your very friendly letter of the 25th of May 
last. It reached me in due course of mail ; but such 
were my debility and afflictions, that I have been 
prevented from replying to it until now; and even 
now it is with great difficulty that I write. In re- 
turn for your kind expressions with regard to my- 
self, I have to remark, that I shall ever recollect, my 
dear general, with great satisfaction, the relations* 
both private and official, which subsisted between 
us, during the greater part of my administration. 
Having full confidence in your abilities and repub- 
lican principles, I invited you to my cabinet; and I 
can never forget with what discretion and talents 
you met those great and delicate questions which 
were brought before you whilst you presided over 
the department of war, which entitled you to my 
thanks, and will be ever recollected with the most 
lively feelings of friendship by me. 

But what has endeared you to every true Ame- 
rican, was the noble stand which you took, as our 
minister at Paris, against the quintuple treaty, and 
which, by your talents, energy, and fearless respon- 
sibility, defeated its ratification by France — a treaty 
intended bv Great Britain to change our interna- 
tional laws, make her mistress of the seas, and de- 
stroy the national independence, not only of our 
country, but of all Europe, and enable her to be- 
come the tvrant on every ocean. Had Great Britain 
obtained the sanction of France to this treaty, {with 
the late disgraceful treaty of Washington — so dis- 
reputable to our national character and injurious to 
our national safety,) then, indeed, we might have 



GENERAL CASS. 13' 

hung our harps upon the willows, and resigned our 
national independence to Great Britain. But, I re- 
peat, to your talents, energy, and fearless responsi- 
bility, we are indebted for the shield thrown over 
us from the impending danger which the ratification 
of the quintuple treaty by France would have 
brought upon us. For this act, the thanks of every 
true American, and the applause of every true re- 
publican, are yours ; and for this noble act I tender 
you my thanks. 

I admired the course of Dr. Linn in the Senate, 
in urging his Oregon bill ; and I hope his energy will 
carry it into a law at the next session of Congress. 
This will speak to England a language which she 
will understand — that we will not submit to be nego- 
tiated out of our territorial rights hereafter. 

Receive assurances of my friendship and esteem. 

ANDREW JACKSON. 

To the Hon. Lewis Cass. 

Than this, no compliment can be more distinct 
and emphatic, or more valuable. 



132 LIFEOF 



CHAPTER VII. 

Mr. Cass in the United States — Visit to General Jackson — Let- 
ters — Course in the Senate — Nomination by the Baltimore 
Convention — Correspondence, &c 

In December 1842, General Cass returned to the 
United States, and it may safely be said, he was 
received with the warmest tokens of admiration and 
respect, by citizens of every phase of political opi- 
nion. The stand he had occupied in regard to the 
quintuple treaty evoked the popular enthusiasm, 
and everywhere he was looked upon as the cham- 
pion of a free ocean. On his arrival at New York 
he was catechized in relation to his political opi- 
nions. To these questions he replied briefly and 
succinctly, and avowed his unshaken attachment 
to the great principles of the Democratic party. No 
one could with more propriety do so, for he had, 
during a longer period, perhaps, than any other mem- 
ber of General Jackson's cabinet, except Mr. Van 
Buren, been linked with him in social and political 
intercourse. On his route to the west he was every 
where met with popular demonstrations, and at Har- 
risburg and Columbus, respectively, was met by the 
governors of the respective states, who escorted him 
in pomp and pride to the capitals. His greatest tri- 
umph, however, was at Detroit, the city which he 
hnd conducted from almost infancy, to prosperity 
and success. The governor, the municipal author- 
ities, and the people, came to meet him and welcome 
him home. On the 8th of January, the anniversary 
of the most brilliant victory achieved in the United 
States since the revolution, a committee of the Demo- 



GENERAL CASS. If>3 

cratic Convention of Indiana, addressed him in re- 
lation to political affairs. To these gentlemen he 
made a full exposition of his ideas, declaring his 
opposition to a national bank, unfolding the pecu- 
liar character and the injurious tendency of such 
an institution. He expressed himself as an enemy 
to the plan of distributing the proceeds of the public 
lands among the states, and the scheme of a protec- 
tive tariff, declaring " that the revenue should be 
kept at the lowest points compatible with the per- 
formance of constitutional functions." The question 
of the propriety of the veto was then a subject of 
great discussion, and Mr. Cass expressed himself as 
decidedly opposed to any alteration of the constitu- 
tion : he also declared that he would not be a can- 
didate for the Presidency, unless nominated by a 
full convention of the Democratic party. 

On the 4th of July, 1843, General Cass delivered 
an oration at Fort Wayne, Ind., on the completion 
of the great canal connecting the lakes with the 
Ohio, through the Wabash River. In this oration 
he thus eloquently contrasted the prospects and 
future history of the United States, with those 
of the many foreign lands through which he had 
travelled : 

" I have stood upon the plain of Marathon, the 
battle-field of liberty. It is silent and desolate. 
Neither Greek nor Persian is there to give life an 1 
animation to the scene. It is bounded by sterile 
hills on one side, and lashed by the eternal wavns of 
the Egean sea on the other. But Greek and Persian 
were once there, and that decayed spot was alive 
with hostile armies, who fought the geat fight which 
rescued Greece from the yoke of Persia. And I 
have stood upon the hill of Zion, the city of Jerusa- 
lem, the scene of our Redeemer's sufferings, and 
crucifixion and ascension. But the sceptre has de- 
parted from Judah, and its glory from the capital of 
Solomon. The Assyrian, the Egyptian, the Greek, 
12 



134 LIFE OF 

the Roman, the Arab, the Turk, and the Crusaders, 
have passed over this chief place of Israel and have 
bereft it of its power and beauty. In those regions 
of the East where society passed its infancy, it 
seems to have reached decrepitude. If the associa- 
tions which the memory of their past glory excites, 
are powerful, they are melancholy. They are with- 
out gratification for the present, and without hope 
for the future. But here we are in the freshness of 
youth, and can look forward with rational confidence 
to ages of progress in all that gives power and 
pride to man, and dignity to human nature. It is 
better to look forward to prosperity than back to 
glory. " 

During the summer of 1843, General Cass received 
the letter from General Jackson which has already 
been referred to and printed. During that year, 
General Cass remained at his home attending to his 
business, which, fronj many years' absence, required 
his particular care; but in the spring of 1844, in 
answer to many questions, he wrote a letter on the 
subject of Texas, in which he avowed himself plainly 
and distinctly in favour of the annexation to the 
United States of the sister republic. In May of 
that year, the regular democratic convention at 
Baltimore met, and, on the first ballot, Mr. Cass 
received eighty-three votes, which gradually in- 
creased, until, on the seventh, one hundred and 
twenty-three were cast for him. There is now very 
little doubt, but that on another vote he would have 
been selected as the candidate. The convention, 
however, adjourned, and all parties yielding to the 
principle of expediency, selected the present incum- 
bent, who, after two ballotings, was declared to 
have been selected by the convention as the candi- 
date of the democratic party. 

An ordinarv man so nearlv on the point of sue- 
cess, would have felt mortified and wounded, bo 
did not, however, General Cass, who, on the very 



GENERAL CASS. 135 

day of the reception of the news of the nomination 
at Detroit, in an eloquent address at a popular as- 
sembly, gave his warmest assent to the nomination, 
and avowed his intention to support it, and do all 
in his power to secure its success. He consequently 
accepted the invitation of the great convention at 
Nashville, Tennessee, in August of that year, and, 
by that immense body, he was received with the 
most lavish respect. His address to that conven- 
tion has been spoken of as a masterpiece of elo- 
quence and statesmanship, worthy of him who had 
foiled, in the quintuple negotiation, by honest talent 
and nerve, the efforts of the combined diplomatic 
chicanery of Europe. The applause by which it 
was welcomed, and the unanimous assent to its 
teachings, was the best proof of its merit. 

From Nashville, General Cass proceeded to the 
residence of General Jackson, with whom he passed 
much time. He may almost be said to have received 
the last political adieu and teachings of the veteran 
who had defeated the Indian and British enemies of 
the nation, and been recognized as the restorer of 
the great and true principles of the theory of the 
government of the country. 

General Cass, on his return, made a tour through 
Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan, and everywhere was 
most enthusiastically received. Everywhere he was 
acknowledged as the fosterer of the civilization of 
the west, and representative of its dignity and 
greatness. His tour has thus eloquently been de- 
scribed — 

" But a great change had been effected since first 
he came among them. The lofty forests which he 
then traversed were now fruitful fields; the lonely 
cabins which he protected from the firebrand of the 
savage were transformed into populous cities ; the 
Indian war-path was converted into the railroad ; 
the harbors upon the lakes and rivers which he first 
eurveved were now the seats of commerce and of 



136 LIFE OP 

wealth ; and the scattered population which he 
governed were now a great people. The crowds 
which attended his progress through those States 
seemed rather the triumphal procession of a con- 
queror, than the peaceful attendants of a private 
citizen." 

The election of 1844 is now a matter of history. 
The majority of every western s4ate except one, 
and that was Kentucky, the home of the great an- 
tagonist of the democratic party, was given for Mr. 
Polk. Even Kentucky had but a small majority in 
favour of the whig candidate. No small degree of 
this success is to be attributed to Mr. Cass, who 
threw all his personal popularity into the scale of 
the success of his rival before the nominating com- 
mittee. 

During the winter of 1844-45, Mr. Cass was 
elected to the Senate of the United States, by the 
people of that unit of the confederacy which he 
might almost be said to have created. On the 4th 
of March, 1845, his credentials were presented, and 
he took his seat. On the first formation of the com- 
mittees of the Senate, General Cass was nominated 
unanimously to the high position of chairman of the 
committee on military affairs, due to him from his 
high reputation as a soldier, which had been ac- 
quired in the field, and not in mere holiday service. 
This position he declined, nor did he occupy it until 
it had been for the third time offered him, on the 
commencement of the present session of congress. 

During December, 1845, Mr. Cass, as a member 
of the military committee, introduced a series of 
resolutions into the senate, with reference to the na- 
tional defence, especially in connection with the diffi- 
culties with Great Britain in relation to Oregon. 
The following extract demonstrates that the old 
leaven which took him twice to the frontier, and 
prompted him to share in the perils of the battle of 
the Thames, had not lost its force. lie was in favour 



GENERAL CASS. 137 

of maintaining our rights to their utmost point, and 
though both parties united in abandoning the pre- 
tensions of the nation, the people will remember Mr. 
Cass as one of those who sought to maintain them 
to the latest hour. Men who make a study of poli- 
tics, often differ from those who examine national 
affairs, only amidst the leisure and intermissions of 
their ordinary pursuits, and a large portion of the 
people disapproved of the extinguishment of a little 
of the nation's pretensions. Be this however as it 
may, it is now undeniable, that 54° 40' men who 
talked of" manifest destiny" and expulsion of Euro- 
pean influence, were found in each of the great 
parties. 

It was during the month of March, that Mr. Cass 
delivered his great speech on the Oregon question. 
One of the largest audiences collected during the 
winter, and a full senate awaited the expression of 
the opinions of one, who from long residence abroad 
and patient study, was admirably calculated to en- 
lighten the people on this most knotty and difficult 
question. The following paragraphs have been se- 
lected as admirably expressing the tone and tenor 
of his remarks. 

" it pains me, sir, to hear allusions to the destruc- 
tion of this government, and to the dissolution of 
this confederacy. It pains me, not because they in- 
spire me with any fear, but because we ought to 
have one unpronounceable word, as the Jews had of 
old, and that word is dissolution. We should re- 
ject the feeling from our hearts and its name from 
our tongues. This cry of " Wo, ivo, to Jerusalem," 
grates harshly upon my ears. Our Jerusalem is 
neither beleagured nor in danger. It is yet the city 
upon a hill ; glorious in what it is, still more glorious, 
by the blessing of God, in what it is to be — a land- 
mark, inviting the nations of the world, struggling 
upon the stormy ocean of political oppression, to fol- 
low us to a haven of safety and of rational liberty. 
i»» # 



138 L I F E O F 

No English Titus will enter our temple of freedom 
through a breach in the battlements to bear thence 
the ark of our Constitution and the book of our law, 
to take their stations in a triumphal procession in 
the streets of modern Rome, as trophies of conquest 
and proofs of submission. 

" Many a raven has croaked in my day, but the 
augury has failed, and the republic has marched on- 
ward. Many a crisis has presented itself to the im- 
agination of our political Cassandras, but we have 
still increased in political prosperity as we have in- 
creased in years, and that, too, with an accelerated 
progress unknown to the history of the world. We 
have a class of men whose eyes are always upon the 
future, overlooking the blessings around us, and for- 
ever apprehensive of some great political evil, which 
is to arrest our course, somewhere or other on this 
side of the millennium. To them we are the image 
of gold, and silver, and brass, and clay, contrariety 
in unity, which the first rude blow of misfortune is 
to strike from its pedestal. 

" For my own part, I consider this the strongest 
government on the face of the earth for good, and 
the weakest for evil. Strong, because supported by 
the public opinion of a people inferior to none of the 
communities of the earth in all that constitutes mo- 
ral worth and useful knowledge, and who have 
breathed into their political system the breath of life; 
and who would destroy it, as they created it, if it 
were unworthy of them, or failed to fulfil their just 
expectations. 

" And weak for evil, from this very consideration, 
which would make its follies and its faults the signal 
of its overthrow. It is the only government in ex- 
istence which no revolution can subvert. It may 
be changed, but it provides for its own change, 
when the public will requires. Plots and insurrec- 
tions, and the various struggles, by which an op- 
pressed population manifests its sufferings and seeks 



GENERAL CASS. 139 

the recovery of its rights, have no place here. We 
have nothing to fear but ourselves." 

The conduct of Mr. Cass in this perilous crisis 
was appreciated by the people. The skilful man 
who had studied the tone of European governments, 
and the people who always have an intuitive know- 
ledge of their own rights and interests, had come to 
the same conclusion. Both the one and the other 
had learned that a people lose nothing by insisting 
on their rights, and gain nothing by withdrawing 
from their just pretensions. 

The history of General Cass now draws towards 
a close, and it is here necessary to state, that he 
sustained, with unflinching energy, the propriety of 
hostilities with Mexico, and advocated the adoption 
of the most, rigorous measures to bring the neigh- 
bouring republic to a knowledge of what was due 
to the world and to the United States. Here, too, 
the people coincided with him, and even the great 
champion of the opposition at one time wished " that 
he too might kill a Mexican." • 

All know the tenor of the three million bill, the 
object of which was to place at the disposal of the 
president the sum of three millions of dollars, to 
enable him to conclude a peace with the Mexican 
government. The propriety of this bill was unde- 
niable, so that no one pretended to assail it. A 
senator, however, from that section of the United 
States, which has been generally under the control 
of a party which has always opposed the vindica- 
tion of national rights, introduced into the senate as 
an amendment to the bill, what has been known as 
the Wilmot Proviso; a movement which originated 
in the house of representatives on a resolution of 
Mr. Wilmot, a member of Congress, from one of the 
most obscure districts of Pennsylvania, and pro- 
vided that no territory obtained by conquest or 
otherwise from Mexico, should be annexed to the 
United States, except with the understanding that 



140 LIFE OF 

slavery was to be abolished and prohibited. On 
this occasion, General Cass, also, delivered a most 
eloquent and emphatic speech, and voted against the 
amendment. 

During this congress also, the tariff of 1846, and 
the independent treasury, became subjects of debate. 
On these occasions, General Cass rendered to the 
Democratic party services certainly not inferior to 
those of the persons who declared themselves the 
peculiar vindicators of these doctrines. As a token 
of admiration of his services on this occasion, Gene- 
ral Cass on the expiration of Congress, was invited 
to partake of a public entertainment at Albany, by 
the Democratic members of both houses of the legis- 
lature of New York. The honour, however, was 
declined. 

Amid all his political engagements, he had found 
time to prepare an address, which he delivered 
before the literary societies of Dartmouth College, 
New Hampshire, his native state, at the annual com- 
mencement of that institution. The societies after- 
wards prepared an elegant gold-headed cane, with 
appropriate devices, which was presented to him in 
Washington, on the 4th of March, 1848. 

On the meeting of the present congress, the atti- 
tude Mr. Benton, the previous chairman of the com- 
mittee of military affairs, had chosen to assume 
against more than one of the most distinguished 
officers of the army, having rendered it manifestly 
improper that he should continue longer at its head, 
Mr. Cass was selected as its chairman. The best 
summary of his opinions on the great questions of 
war and annexation, is contained in the following 
reply to an address of Mr. Mangum, delivered early 
in the session. 

" Now, with respect to the progress of the war, 
it is said that General Scott is going on from town 
to town, and from city to city, conquering all before 
him. I am very glad to hear it. I hope that the 



GENERAL CASS. 



141 



commanding general will continue to go on in this 
way. If he does so, I have no doubt he will con- 
quer Mexican obstinacy, and thus conquer a peace. 
I have already expressed my opinions with regard 
to the war in Mexico, and have nothing to say on 
the subject now, except to tell the Senator from 
North Carolina, what I had the honour to say to the 
Senator from South Carolina, that the adoption of 
any resolutions in this Senate with regard to any 
danger — if danger there be — in the progress of this 
war, would be but as the idle wind. You might as 
well stand by the cataract of Niagara, and say to its 
waters " flow not," as to the American people " an- 
nex not territory," if they choose to annex it. It is 
the refusal of the Mexican people to do us justice 
that prolongs this war. It is that which operates 
on the public mind, and leads the Senator from 
North Carolina to apprehend a state of things which 
he fears, but which, for myself, I do not anticipate. 
Let me say, Mr. President, that it takes a great 
deal to kill this country. We have had an alarming 
crisis almost every year as long as I can recollect. 
I came on the public stage as a spectator before Mr. 
Jefferson was elected. That was a crisis. Then 
came the embargo crisis — the crisis of the non-inter- 
course — of the war — of the bank — of the tariff — of 
the removal of the deposites — and a score of others. 
But we have outlived them all, and advanced in all 
the elements of power and prosperity with a rapidity 
heretofore unknown in the history of nations. If 
we should swallow Mexico to-morrow, I do not be- 
lieve it would kill us. The Senator from North 
Carolina and myself may not live to see it, but I am 
by no means satisfied that the day will not come in 
which the whole of the vast country around us will 
form one of the most magnificent empires that the 
world has yet seen™ glorious in its prosperity, and 
still more glorious in the establishment and perpetu- 



142 



LIFE OF 



ation of the principles of free government and the 
blessings which they bring with them." 

In answer to a letter from Mr. Nicholson, in De- 
cember 1847, General Cass published an address, in 
which he expressed himself opposed to the Wilmot 
Proviso, because he thought all legislation in relation 
to and restrictions upon territories ill-advised. He 
declared, that he thought all domestic institutions 
should be left under their own control, and proclaimed 
explicitly that he thought congress was as utterly 
disqualified from legislation in relation to slavery, 
as to define the relative duties of husband and wife, 
and the obligation of landlord and tenant. He con- 
cluded with the following passage — 

" The ' Wilmot Proviso' seeks to take from its 
legitimate tribunal a question of domestic policy, 
having no relation to the Union, as such, and to 
transfer it to another, created by the people for a 
special purpose, and foreign to the subject matter 
involved in the issue. By going back to our true 
principles, we go back to the road of peace and 
safety. Leave to the people, who will be affected 
by this question, to adjust it upon their own respon- 
sibility and in their own manner, and we shall ren- 
der another tribute to the original principles of our 
government, and furnish another guaranty for its 
permanence and prosperity." 

The foregoing pages have recounted briefly the 
services of General Cass. He had become one of 
the popular favourites, and been nominated as Pre- 
sident by the state conventions of Ohio and Michi- 
gan, and he had been highly complimented by that 
of Pennsylvania, held 4th March, 1848, at Harris- 
burg. With this prestige, he was nominated as the 
candidate of the democratic party of the United 
States, by the convention at Baltimore, of May 28, 
1848, and, after several ballotings, received the 
unanimous vote. His antagonists were Mr. Dallas 
and Mr. Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, illustrious in 



GENERAL CASS. 113 

the political history of the nation, and distinguished 
in the annals of the democratic party, and others, 
who from minor and personal grounds had been sug- 
gested by their friends as candidates for the high 
dignity of chief magistrate of the nation. 

On these events, comment is now gratuitous. A 
thinking people will reflect on the events of Mr. 
Cass's long career, and, whether he receive their 
suffrage or not, no one will be more earnest in 
wishes for their success and prosperity. 

The following correspondence on the subject of 
the nomination of Mr. Cass will explain his pro- 
mises to the American people, and the history of his 
past career proves that he will fulfil them — 

Baltimore, May 23, 1848. 
Dear Sir : — You are doubtless apprised of the fact 
that a National Convention of republican delegates 
from the various portions of the Union, assembled 
in this city on the 22d inst., for the purpose of se- 
lecting candidates for the two highest executive 
offices of the United States. We are gratified in 
having it in our power to inform you that the con- 
vention, with great unanimity, agreed to present 
your name to the country for the office of President, 
and requested us to communicate to you this nomi- 
nation, and solicit your acceptance. In performing 
this duty, which we do with great pleasure, it is 
proper that the resolutions adopted by the conven- 
tion, and containing the principles upon which they 
believe the government ought to be administered, 
should be laid before you. These constitute a plat- 
form broad enough for all true democrats to stand 
upon, and narrow enough to exclude all those who 
may be opposed to the great principles of the demo- 
cratic party. That these principles will meet with 
your cordial assent and support, and be illustrated 
in your administration, if called to this high office 
by your country, we do not for a moment doubt ; 



144 LIFE OF 

but feel assured, that while you exercise forbear- 
ance with firmness, you will not fail to exert your 
faculties to maintain the principles and just com- 
promises of the constitution, in a spirit of modera- 
tion and brotherly love, so vitally essential to the 
perpetuity of the Union, and the prosperity and 
happiness of our common country. We offer you 
our sincere congratulations upon this distinguished 
mark of the public confidence, and are, with senti- 
ments of high esteem and regard, dear sir, 

Your friends and obedient servants, 

A. STEVENSON, 
Preset, of the National Convention. 

Robt. P. Dunlap, Me. ; J. H. Steele, N. H. ; Ches- 
ter W. Chapin, Mass. ; Ira Davis, Vt. ; B. B. Thurs- 
ton, R. I. ; Isaac Toucy, Conn. ; G. D. Wall, N. J. ; 
J. G. Jones, Penn.; A. R. Ramsey, Ark.; G. M. 
Bowers, Mo. ; C. J. McDonald, Ga. ; J. A. Winston, 
Ala.; J. C. McGehee, Fa. ; Powhatan Ellis, Miss.; 
R. W. English, 111.; C. G. English, la.; J. Larwell, 
Ohio; Thos. J. Rusk, Texas ; Austin E.Whig, Mich.; 
Solo. W. Downs, La. ; Thos. Martin, Tenn. ; L. 
Saunders, Ky. ; James Clarke, Iowa ; S. B. Davis, 
Del. ; B. C. Howard, Md. ; Ed. P. Scott, Va. ; W. 
N. Edwards, N. C. ; J. M. Commander, S. C. 

To Gen. Lewis Cass, Washington City. 



Washington, May 30, 1848. 

Gentlemen : — I have the honour to acknowledge 
the receipt of your letter of the 28th instant, an- 
nouncing to me that I have been nominated by the 
Convention of the Democratic party, its candidate 
for the office of President of the United States, at 
the approaching election. 

While I accept, with deep gratitude, this distin- 
guished honour — and distinguished indeed it is — -I 
do so with a fearful apprehension of the responsi- 
bility it may eventually bring with it, and with a 



GENERAL CASS. 



145 



profound conviction thai it is the kind confidence of 
my fellow citizens, far more than any merit of my 
own, which has placed me thus prominently before 
the American people. And fortunate shall I be, if 
this confidence should find, in the events of the fu- 
ture, a better justification than is furnished by those 
of the past. 

I have carefully read the resolutions of the Demo- 
cratic National Convention, laying down the plat- 
form of our political faith, and I adhere to them as 
firmly, as I approve them cordially. And while 
thus adhering to them, I shall do so with a sacred 
regard to " the principles and compromises of the 
constitution," and with an earnest desire for their 
maintenance " in a spirit of moderation and bro- 
therlv love, so vitally essential to the perpetuity of 
the Union/and the prosperity and happiness of our 
common country;" — a feeling which has made us 
what we are, and which, in humble reliance jpon 
Providence, we may hope is but the beginning of 
what we are to be. If called upon hereafter to ren- 
der an account of my stewardship, in the great trust 
you desire to commit to me, should I be able to 
show that I had truly redeemed the pledge thus pub- 
licly given, and had adhered to the principles of the 
democratic party with as much fidelity and success 
as have generally marked the administration of the 
eminent men to whom that party has hitherto con- 
fided the chief executive authority of the govern- 
ment, I could prefer no higher claim to the favour- 
able consideration of the country, nor to the impar- 
tial commendation of history. 

This letter, gentlemen, closes my profession of 
political faith/ Receiving my first appointment 
from that, pure patriot and'great expounder of Ame- 
rican democracy, Mr. Jefferson, more than forty 
years ago, the intervening period of my life has 
been almost wholly passed in the service of my 
13 



146 LIFE OF 

country, and has been marked by many vicissitudes, 
and attended with many trying circumstances, both 
in peace and war. If my conduct in these situa- 
tions, and the opinions I have been called upon to 
form and express, from time to time, in relation to 
all the great party topics of the day, do not furnish 
a clear exposition of my views respecting them, 
and at the same time a sufficient pledge of my faith- 
ful adherence to their practical application, when- 
ever and wherever I may be required to act, any- 
thing further I might now say, would be mere delu- 
sion, unworthy of myself, and justly offensive to the 
great party in whose name you are now acting. 

My immediate predecessor in the nomination by 
the democratic party, who has since established so 
many claims to the regard and confidence of his 
country, when announcing, four years ago, his ac- 
ceptance of a similar honour, announced also his 
determination not to be a candidate for re-election. 
Coinciding with him in his views, so well expressed, 
and so faithfully carried out, I beg leave to say, that 
no circumstances that can possibly arise, would 
induce me again to permit my name to be brought 
forward in connexion with the Chief Magistracy of 
our country. My inclination and my sense of duty 
equally dictate this course. 

No party, gentlemen, had ever higher motives for 
exertion, than has the great Democratic party of 
the United States. With an abiding confidence in 
the rectitude of our principles, with an unshaken 
reliance upon the energy and wisdom of public 
opinion, and with the success which has crowned 
the administration of the government, when com- 
mitted to its keeping, (and it has been so committed 
during more than three-fourths of its existence,) 
what has been done, is at once the reward of past 
exertion and the motive of future, and, at the same 
time, a guarantee of the accomplishment of what 



GENERAL CASS. 



147 



we have to do. We cannot conceal from ourselves 
that there is a powerful party in the country, dif- 
fering from us in regard to many fundamental prin- 
ciples of our government, and opposed to us in their 
practical application, which will strive as zealously 
as we shall, to secure the ascendancy of their prin- 
ciples, by securing the election of their candidate in 
the coming contest. That party is composed of our 
fellow-citizens, as deeply interested in the prosper- 
ity of our common country as we can be, and seek- 
ing as earnestly as we are to promote and perpetu- 
ate it. 

We shall soon present to the world the sublime 
spectacle of the election of a Chief Magistrate by 
twenty millions of people, without a single serious 
resistance to the laws, or the sacrifice of the life of 
one human being — and this, too, in the absence of 
all force but the moral force of our institutions ; and 
if we should add to all this, an example of mutual 
respect for the motives of the contending parties, 
so that the contest might be carried on with that 
firmness and energy which accompany deep con- 
viction, and with as little personal asperity as poli- 
tical divisions permit, we should do more for the 
great cause of human freedom throughout the world, 
than by any other tribute we could render to its 

value. 

We have a government founded by the will of 
all, responsible to the power of all, and adminis- 
tered for the good of all. The very first article in 
the Democratic creed teaches that the people are 
competent to govern themselves: it is, indeed, 
rather an axiom than an article of political faith. 
From the days of General Hamilton to our days, 
the party opposed to us — of whose principles he 
was the great exponent, if not the founder — while 
it has changed its name, has preserved essentially 
its identity of character ; and the doubt he enter- 



148 LIFE OF 

tained and taught of the capacity of man for self- 
government, has exerted a marked influence upon 
its action and opinions. Here is the very starting- 
point of the difference between the two great par- 
ties which divide our country. All other differ- 
ences are but subordinate and auxiliary to this, and 
may, in fact, be resolved into it. Looking with 
doubt upon the issue oi" self-government, one party 
is prone to think the public authority should be 
strengthened, and to fear any change, lest that 
change might weaken the necessary force of the 
government ; while the other, strong in its convic- 
tions of the intelligence and virtue of the people, 
believes that original power is safer than delegated, 
and that the solution of the great problem of good 
government consists in governing with the least 
force, and leaving individual action as free from 
restraint as is compatible with the preservation of 
the social system, thereby securing to each all the 
freedom which is not essential to the well-being of 
the whole. 

As a party, we ought not to mistake the signs of 
the times; but should bear in mind, that this is an 
age of progress — of advancement in all the elements 
of intellectual power, and in the opinions of the 
world. The general government should assume no 
powers. It should exercise none which have not 
been clearly granted by the parties to the federal 
compact. We ought to construe the constitution 
strictly, according to the received and sound prin- 
ciples of the Jefferson school. But while rash ex- 
periments should be deprecated, if the government 
is stationary in its principles of action, and refuses 
to accommodate its measures, within its constitu- 
tional sphere — cautiously indeed, but wisely and 
cheerfully — to the advancing sentiments and neces- 
sities of the age, it will find its moral force impaired, 
and the public will determine to do what the public 



GENERAL CASS. 149 

authority itself should readily do, when the indica- 
tions of popular sentiments are clear, and clearly 
expressed. 

With great respect, gentlemen, I have the honour 
to be your obedient servant, 

LEWIS CASS. 

Hon. A. Stevenson, 
'President of the Democratic Convention, 
and Vice Presidents of the same. 

A few days after, Mr. Cass resigned his seat in 
the Senate, and after the lapse of a few days pro- 
ceeded homeward. At Baltimore, Philadelphia, New 
York, and every where, he was received most enthu- 
siastically by all of that portion of the people, the 
representatives of which had recognized him as then- 
Candidate. A few months will determine whether 
he will occupy the Presidential chair: at all events, 
he is worthy to do so. 



The following were the resolutions of the conven- 
tion of the Democratic party, and contain its creed. 
The career of the person it selected as a type is an 
assurance that they will be maintained. 

Resolved, That the American Democracy place their 
trust in the intelligence, the patriotism, and the discrimi- 
nating justice of the American people. 

Resolved, That we regard this as a distinctive feature 
of our political creed, which we are proud to maintain 
before the world, as the great moral element in a form of 
government, springing from and upheld by the popular 
will ; and we contrast it with the creed and practice ol 
federalism, under whatever name or form, which seeks to 
palsy the will of the constituent, and which conceives no 
imposture too monstrous for the popular credulity. 

Resolved, therefore, That, entertaining these views, the 
Democratic party of this union, through their delegates 
assembled in a general convention of the States, coming 
together in a spirit of concord, of devotion to the doc- 
trines and faith of a free representative government, and 
appealing to their fellow citizens for the rectitude of theii 
13* 



150 LIFE OF 

intentions, renew and re-assert, before the American peo- 
ple, the declarations of principles avowed by them when, 
on a former occasion, in general convention, they pre- 
sented their candidates forlhe popular suffrages : 

1. That the federal government is one of limited powers, 
derived solely from the constitution, and the grants of 
power shown therein ought to be strictly construed by 
all the departments and agents of the government ; and 
that it is inexpedient and dangerous to exercise doubtful 
constitutional powers. 

2. That the constitution does not confer upon the gene- 
ral government the power to commence and carry on a 
general system of internal improvements. 

3. That the constitution does not confer authority upon 
the federal government, directly or indirectly, to assume 
the debts of the several States, contracted for local inter- 
nal improvements, or other State purposes ; nor would 
such assumption be just and expedient. 

4. That justice and sound policy forbid the federal govern- 
ment to foster one branch of industry to the detriment of 
another, or to cherish the interests of one portion to the 
injury of another portion of our common country ; that 
every citizen, and every section of the country, has a 
right to demand and insist upon an equality of rights and 
privileges, and to complete and ample protection of per- 
sons and property from domestic violence or foreign ag- 
gression. 

5. That it is the duty of every branch of the govern- 
ment to enforce and practise the most rigid economy in 
conducting our public affairs, and that no more revenue 
ought to be raised than is required to defray the neces- 
sary expenses of the government, and for the gradual but 
certain extinction of the debt created by the prosecu- 
tion of a just and necessary war, after peaceful relations 
shall have been restored. 

6. That congress has no power to charter a national 
bank; that we believe such an institution one of deadly 
hostility to the best interests of the country, dangerous 
to our republican institutions and the liberties of the 
people, and calculated to place the business of the coun- 
try within the control of a concentrated money power, 
aiid above the laws and the will of the people; and that 
the result of Democratic legislation, in this and all other 
financial measures upon which issues have been made 
between the two political parties of the country, have 
demonstrated to candid and practical men of all parties, 
their soundness, safety and utility in all business pursuits. 



GENERAL CASS. 151 

7. That congress has no power under the constitution 
to interfere with or control the domestic institutions of 
the several States, and that such States are the sole and 
proper judges of everything appertaining to their own 
affairs, not prohibited by the constitution ; that all 
efforts of the abolitionists or others, made to induce 
congress to interfere with the question of slavery, or 
to take incipient steps in relation thereto, are calculated 
to lead to the most alarming and dangerous consequen- 
ces ; and that all such efforts have an inevitable tendency 
to diminish the happiness of the people, and endanger the 
stability and permanency of the Union, and ought not to 
be countenanced by any friend of our political institu- 
tions. 

8. That the separation of the moneys of the government 
from banking institutions is indispensable for the safety 
of the funds of the government and the rights of the 
people. 

9. That the liberal principles embodied by Jefferson in 
the Declaration of Independence, and sanctioned in the 
constitution, which make ours the land of liberty, and 
the asylum of the oppressed of every nation, have ever 
been cardinal principles in the Democratic faith ; and 
every attempt to abridge the present privilege of becom- 
ing citizens and the owners of soil among us, ought to be 
resisted with the same spirit which swept the alien and 
sedition laws from our statute books. 

Resolved, That the proceeds of the public lands ought 
to be sacredly applied to the national objects specified 
in the constitution; and that we are opposed to any law 
for the distribution of such proceeds among the States, 
as alike inexpedient in policy, and repugnant to the con- 
stitution. 

Resolved, That we are decidedly opposed to taking 
from the President the qualified veto power, by which he 
is enabled, under restrictions and responsibilities, amply 
sufficient to guard the public interest, to suspend the pas- 
sage of a bill whose merits cannot secure the approval 
of "two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives 
until the judgment of the people can be obtained thereon, 
and which has saved the American people from the cor- 
rupt and tyrannical domination of the Bank of the United 
States, and from a corrupting system of general internal 
improvements. 

Resolved, That the war with Mexico, provoked on her 
part, by years of insult and injury, was commenced by 
her army crossing the Rio Grande, attacking the Ame- 



152 



LIFE OF 



rican troops, and invading our sister State of Texas — 
and that upon all the principles of patriotism and the laws 
of nations, it is a just and necessary war on our part, in 
which every American citizen should have shown him- 
self on the side of his country, and neither morally nor 
physically, by word or deed, have given " aid and comfort 
to the enemy." 

Resolved, That we would be rejoiced at the assurances 
of a peace with Mexico, founded on the just principles of 
indemnity for the past and security for the future; but 
that while the ratification of the liberal treaty offered to 
Mexico remains in doubt, it is the duty of the country to 
sustain the administration in every measure necessary to 
provide for the vigorous prosecution of the war, should 
that treaty be rejected. 

Resolved, That the officers and soldiers who have car- 
ried the arms of their country into Mexico, have crowned 
it with imperishable glory. Their unconquerable cour- 
age, their daring enterprise, their unfaltering persever- 
ance and fortitude when assailed on all sides by innume- 
rable foes, and that more formidable enemy — the diseases 
of the climate — exalt their devoted patriotism into the 
highest heroism, and give them a right to the profound 
gratitude of their country and the admiration of the 
world. 

Resolved, That the Democratic National Convention 
of the thirty States composing the American Republic, 
tender their fraternal congratulations to the National 
Convention of the Republic of France, now assembled 
as the free suffrage representatives of the sovereignty 
of thirty-five millions of Republicans, to establish govern- 
ments on those eternal principles of equal right, for which 
their Lafayette and our Washington fought, side by 
side, in the struggle for our own National Independence; 
and we would especially convey to them and the whole 
people of France, our earnest wishes for the consolidation 
of their Liberties, through the wisdom that shall guide 
their councils, on the basis of a Democratic Constitution, 
not derived from the grants or concessions of kings or 
dynasties, but originating from the only true source of 
political power recognized in the States of this Union; 
the inherent and inalienable right of the people, in their 
sovereign capacity, to make and to amend their forms of 
government in such manner as the welfare of the com- 
munity may require. 

Resolved, That in the recent development of this grand 
political truth, of the sovereignty of the people and thei* - 



GENERAL CASS. 153 

capacity and power of self-government, which is pros- 
trating thrones and erecting republics on the ruins of 
despotism in the old world, we feel that a high and sacred 
duty is devolved with increased responsibility upon the 
Democratic party of this country, as the party of the 
people, to sustain and advance among us constitutional 
liberty, equality and fraternity, by continuing to resist all 
monopolies and exclusive legislation for the benefit of the 
few at the expense of the many, and by a vigilant and 
constant adherence to those principles and compromises 
of the constitution which are broad enough and strong 
enough to embrace and uphold the Union as it was, the 
Union as it is, and the Union as it shall be in the full ex- 
pansion of the energies and capacity of this great and 
progressive people. 

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded 
through the American Minister at Paris to the National 
Convention of the Republic of France, 

Resolved, That the fruits of the great political triumph 
of 1844, which elected James K, Polk and George M. 
Dallas President and Vice President of the United States, 
have fulfilled the hopes of the Democracy of the Union; 
in defeating the declared purposes of their opponents to 
create a National Bank, in preventing the corrupt and 
unconstitutional distribution of the land proceeds, from 
the common treasury of the Union, for local purposes ; in 
protecting the currency and the labour of the country 
from the ruinous fluctuations, and guarding the money 
of the people for the use of the people, by the establish- 
ment of the Constitutional Treasury; in the noble im- 
pulse given to the cause of Free Trade, by the repeal of 
the Tariff of 1842, and the creation of the more equal, 
honest and productive Tariff of 1840; and, that, in our 
opinion, it would be a fatal error to weaken the bands of 
political organization by which these great reforms have 
been achieved, — and risk them in the hands of their known 
adversaries, with whatever delusive appeals they may 
solicit our surrender of that vigilance, which is the only 
safeguard of liberty. 

Resolved, That the confidence of the Democracy of the 
Union, in the principles, capacity, firmness and integrity 
of James K. Polk, manifested by his nomination and elec- 
tion in 1844, has been signally justified by the strictness 
of his adherence to sound Democratic doctrines, by the* 
purity of purpose, the energy and ability which have cha- 
racterized his administration in all our affairs at home and 
abroad; that we tender to him our cordial congratulations 



154 LIFE OF 

upon the brilliant success which has hitherto crowned his 
patriotic efforts, and assure him, in advance, that at the 
expiration of his presidential term he will carry with him 
to his retirement, the esteem, respect and admiration of a 
grateful country. 

Resolved, That this Convention hereby present to the 
people of the United States, Lewis Cass, of Michigan, as 
the candidate of the Democratic party for the office of 
President, and William O. Butler, of Kentucky, as the 
candidate of the Democratic party for the office of Vice 
President of the United States. 



On the reception of the news of the recent revo- 
lution of France, the greatest enthusiasm was ex- 
cited in the United States, and public meetings 
were held in all the principal cities of the Union. 
To a large and enthusiastic assemblage at Washing- 
ton, March 28, 1848, General Cass delivered an ad- 
dress, from which we make the following extracts: 

T came here, fellow-citizens, to hear and to feel, rather 
than to talk — not so much to address you, as to mingle 
my congratulations with yours, upon the stirring and 
striking events, which are now passing in Europe, and 
the sound of which is borne upon the wings of the wind 
to every civilized country of the earth. I yield to abler 
and to younger speakers the task of expressing such sen- 
timents, as become the subject and the occasion ; but I 
yield in no jot nor tittle to any one in the interest they 
excite, and the hopes they inspire. The shouts of liberty 
reach us from the Old World : let us send back their 
echoes from the New. Let us be grateful to Him, who 
holds in his hand the fate of nations, and who guides their 
purposes by wiser purposes of his own ; let us be grateful 
to Him, who is breaking the bond of the oppressed, and 
setting the captive free. 

Throughout a considerable part of Europe man is 
awakening to a conviction of his rights, and to a know- 
ledge of his strength ; and, with the feelings which these 
inspire, comes the determination to assert, and, if neces- 
sary, to employ the other. The abuses of centuries are 
giving way before the progress of the age, and the foun- 
dations of government are investigated with a zeal not to 
be rebuked, and with a stern purpose, which nothing will 
satisfy but the truth. The great tide of freedom is rolling 



GENERAL CASS. 155 

onwards from the shores of Calabria to the English chan- 
nel, and institutions, originating in barbarous ages and 
sanctioned by time and habit, but which have sacrificed 
the happiness of the many to the power of the few, are 
giving way before it with as little resistance as regret. I 
hope, for one, that the chalk-bound cliffs of England will 
not stay the progress of this salutary reform, but that it 
will reach her palaces and her hovels, correcting the great 
moral and physical evils which now press upon her 
people. 

Fellow-citizens, I do not deny that there is much to be 
commended in the institutions of England, social and po- 
litical. I do not deny that she has contributed her full 
share to the intellectual progress of the age. ' I do not 
deny that there is a great deal of moral worth in that 
country, and many high traits of character well worthy 
of imitation, But the practical administration of her 
government is entitled to no such commendation. It is 
arbitrary and oppressive — administered by a chosen class 
for their own benefit, and not for the masses. It sits like 
an incubus upon the great body of the people in two- 
thirds of the home empire ; and in the other third — Ireland 
— it has pressed down the people into a state of humilia- 
tion, elsewhere unknown in Christendom. Its right of 
primogeniture, its feudal privileges, and its aristocratic 
tendencies, have created such an inequality of property, 
that scenes of distress — aye, of distress on the largest 
scale — are passing there in a manner unknown in modern 
history. It is very well to talk of the blessings of the 
English law — of trial by jury and the habeas corpus. 
These are good things for those who can enjoy them. 
But bread is a better thing for a starving family than trial 
by jury, and a house is a better protection than a habeas 
corpus. Probably on the face of the globe there is no 
such squalid misery as in the hovels of Ireland ; nor was 
the spirit of man ever pressed down, as there, by the 
overpowering evils which surround him. Ireland is 
scarcely the country of Irishmen. It is the country of 
England, which the sons of Ireland inhabit, and where 
they exist rather than live. And this oppression sends 
them to every region of the globe; and wherever they 
go, they carry with them an instinctive hatred of tyranny 
and the love of liberty. They have made most valuable 
accessions to our population, and in peace and war have 
fulfilled all the duties of American citizens, as zealously 
as those born in our country. From the heights of Abra- 
ham, watered with the blood of Montgomery, to the very 



156 LIFE OF 

last battle fought in Mexico, where is the field crowned 
by the valor and exertions of the American troops, in 
which the blood of Ireland has not mingled with our own, 
and in which her native, but our adopted, sons have not 
nobly rallied around the standard of their chosen home! 

England is in that condition, which requires but one firm 
effort on the part of her people to extend those principles 
of free government which nominally belong to the coun- 
try, but which practically are confined to the few ; to ex- 
tend them to the great body of the people, and thus to 
create a government for the benefit of all, directed by all, 
and accountable to all. 

The fiscal oppression of England is of itself a phenome- 
non. The sum of two hundred and fifty millions of dol- 
lars is every year ground out of the people tor general 
purposes, besides perhaps an equal sum for the mainte- 
nance of the clergy, for the support of the poor, and for 
a vast variety of other local objects. More than one-half 
of these two hundred and fifty millions of dollars is "ap- 
plied to the payment of the interest of the national debt, 
a large portion of which was contracted by Pitt, in his 
odious efforts to check the spirit of liberty on the conti- 
nent of Europe. This system seems to be approaching 
its crisis ; for, this year, in a time of profound peace, the 
revenues are insufficient to meet the expenditures. Where 
is the true-hearted American who does not long for the 
termination of such a state of things ! 

One of the strangest events, in this day of great events, 
is the origin of these movements in favour of liberty upon 
the continent of Europe. Whence came they ? From 
the Eternal City — from the head of the Catholic religion 
— the successor of St. Peter. Immediately on his eleva- 
tion to the Pontificate, the Pope avowed his attachment 
to free principles, and from the Vatican went out the de- 
cree which is now spreading through the earth. The 
Pontiff, who holds the keys of St. Peter, has found a key 
to unlock the recesses of the human heart. His moral 
courage was but the more tried by the difficulties ot his 
position. The abuses of the government were the work 
of ages, and had entered into all the habits of life and the 
nmifications of society; and he was surrounded by des- 
potic governments, jealous of the first aspirations of lib- 
erty, and maintaining their sway by powerful armies. 
The Austrian, too, with his Pandours and his Croats from 
the banks of the Danube, had descended the ridges of the 
Alps, and had spread himself over the sunny plains of 
Italy- Almost in sight of the dome of St. Peter's, he 



GENERAL CASS. 157 

watched, with interest and with many a threatening word, 
the progress of the Pope. But the work went on. Naples 
is in a state of revolution; Tuscany and Sardinia in a 
state of reform; and France of apparently peaceful pro- 
gress in the new career opened to her. 

I should not have said one word to you to-night, my 
fellow-citizens, had I not been induced to do so by a par- 
ticular circumstance. A few years since, when in France, 
I published in the Democratic Review some remarks upon 
the condition of that country. Among these were allu- 
sions to the emeules, which were often breaking out in the 
streets of Paris, and occasioning consternation and alarm 
to the quiet citizens, who were disturbed in their occupa- 
tions by the din of arms, and sometimes by bloody con- 
flicts in the midst of their city ; and all this without the 
least beneficial result, or any expectation of it. They 
were not revolutions; they were riots and insurrections. 
I communicated also the facts, as disclosed by the wit- 
nesses on the trials of persons indicted for these offences. 
It was shown conclusively, that the persons engaged in 
them belonged to secret societies sworn to abolish the 
Christian religion, to destroy all the rights of property, 
and to overturn, in fact, social order. I was describing 
more particularly what in France were technically called 
the days of May, 1839. The sentiments of a journal, 
which favoured these proceedings, may be judged by the 
terms it employs when speaking of the United States, 
whose government it calls " a ridiculous republic, and a 
moneyed aristocracy." The following quotations mark 
its spirit and objects : ■ > 

" It is, without doubt, beautiful to be an atheist ; but 
that is not enough," &c. 

" It ought to say, all that is connected with religious 
worship is contrary to our progress ; while, at the same 
time, whenever people are religious they talk nonsense." 

" Our Saviour is called the democratic son of Mary." 

My condemnation of such principles has recently been 
construed into a condemnation of the principles of revo- 
lutions brought about by the people seeking the redress 
of their grievances. There never was a feeling of my 
heart, a word of my mouth, nor an act of my life, which 
would give any man a right to call in question my sym- 
pathy with the struggling masses, or the sincerity of my 
hopes for their success; and I defy any man to quote from 
my remarks upon the condition of France, one single sen- 
tence inconsistent with the progress of rational liberty. 
What I thought, and what I foresaw, are shown by the 
14 



158 LIFE OF 

following extract, alluding to the condition of Europe, 
and to the changes that were in progress : 

"But in Europe, this last great element of public hap- 
piness is beyond the reach of the governments, and it is 
therefore the more necessary that they should use all the 
means within their power to improve the condition of the 
poorer classes of society, to extend the advantages of 
education to all, to diminish the public expenses, to put a 
stop to oppressions, and to introduce the most impartial 
equality before the law, and into public employments. In 
this way, and in this alone, can the political effervescence 
which is everywhere visible in Europe, be safely guided-, 
when it cannot be wholly controlled. There is a forward 
movement in opinion, which can neither be misunderstood 
nor put down. It has produced great changes, and will 
produce still greater. Its operation is a question of time 
only ; but the extent and intensity of that operation de- 
pend essentially upon the wisdom and justice of the 
governments, and upon the forbearance of the people. 
Happy will it be for both, if the changes demanded by the 
present state of society, and called for by the thinking 
class of the community, are made in time to prevent revo- 
lutions, instead of being the consequences of them." 

Is there one American in this b'road land, who will not 
reciprocate these sentiments 1 

Unfortunately for the late dynasty, these liberal views 
were not adopted by it; and if its principles did not un- 
dergo a change, certainly many of its most obnoxious 
measures were adopted and pursued after that period, and 
have given to its government a character for insincerity 
and love of power, which, if they were before charged 
upon it, it had not acquired by such a course of conduct 
as has since been adopted, and which left the French 
people no choice between tame submission and armed 
resistance. 

Some peculiar characteristics have marked the progress 
of the recent events in France. The capital is surrounded 
by a wall of circumvallation upwards of thirty miles in 
extent. Detached forts strengthen the approaches, and 
smaller defensive works are placed at regular intervals 
along the whole wall. It is an immense fortification, one 
of the most extensive in the world. It completely com- 
mands the city of Paris, and is garnished with an im- 
mense train of artillery, ready for any operations the 
government might direct. In this fortification, and in the 
city itself, when these troubles broke out, the government 
had collected a great army of one hundred thousand men, 



GENERAL CASS. 



159 



among the best disciplined troops in the world, and col- 
lected for the very purpose of putting down all opposition 
to the course it was proposed to adopt. And what was 
the result of this great political foresight, as it seemed to 
be ] The fortifications did not fire a gun ; the resistance 
in the streets did not produce as much bloodshed as an 
ordinary emeule; and the troops fraternized with the 
people, and went over to them in the hour of trial. The 
colossal power which Louis Philippe had been building up 
for eighteen years, disappeared like a dream. His govern- 
ment was dissolved, his dynasty terminated, his family 
expelled from the kingdom, and the people took possession 
of the power that belonged to them. And what then? 
Any more blood"? Any more violence? Any of those 
reactions of feeling, which have too often marked the pro- 
gress of revolutions, and have rendered the word itself 
unacceptable to timid ears'! There has been nothing of 
all this; and let us hope there will not be. A provisional 
government has been organized, composed of able and 
eminent men, some of them known through the civilized 
world, and all of them well fitted for their position, and 
with characters which furnish the best guaranty for their 
patriotic conduct. They have summoned a national as- 
sembly to convene in a short time, in order to prepare a 
constitution for the French people ; and, in the mean time, 
all violence and resistance have ceased. The equality of 
all French citizens before the law has been acknowledged ; 
universal suffrage has been established; and the great 
principles of liberty have been recognized as freely as 
they are recognized in our own country. And a public 
vessel has actually been offered to one of the King's sons, 
to enable him to go where he pleased. What a beautiful 
illustration are all these proceedings of the progress of a 
healthful public opinion in France ; and what a beautiful 
example for the other nations of Europe, who feel the 
same evils, and may resort to the same remedy ! 

The people of this country are no propagandists. They 
permit no other nation to interfere with them in their own 
internal concerns, and they seek to interfere with no other 
in theirs. They proclaimed, on the 4th of July, 1776, that 
it is the right of every people to abolish its government, 
and to institute a new one— "laying its foundations on 
such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, 
as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and 
happiness." But every people must judge for themselves, 
as well whether they will continue an existing govern- 
ment, as whether they will change it ; and if so, what 



160 LIFE OP GENERAL CASS. 

* 

form they will substitute. We know the priceless value 
of liberty; we know it suits our condition, and that it has 
given us a greater measure of political happiness than 
any nation ever enjoyed before us. But, while we feel all 
this, and wish that every other people were as well fitted 
for the enjoyment of liberty as we are, still these convic- 
tions and these wishes have no influence upon our politi- 
cal conduct ; — we hold all other nations as our fathers did 
— enemies in war ; in peace, friends. 

But there is no just principle of national comity, which 
forbids us to indulge and express a sympathy with strug- 
gling millions, who, feeling their rights and their oppres- 
sions, are rising in their strength to recover their long- 
lost freedom. We ought neither to shut our ears to the 
welcome sound of their successful efforts, nor our hearts 
to the emotions which these are so well calculated to in- 
spire. France does not want men nor means to defend 
herself, or to maintain the position she has assumed. She 
has sons enough to protect her and her rights, and all 
they have is at her disposal. But the sympathy of twenty 
millions of people is a present fit to send across the At- 
lantic—and of a people, too, who have preceded France 
in the great career into which she has just entered, and 
who can tell her that it is beset by no trials or difficulties, 
which time and experience may not easily overcome. It 
will make her joy the greater for what she has done, and 
her confidence the firmer for what she has to do. Aban- 
doning-, then, the question of party, let us all come up to 
this great work. Let neither Whig nor Democrat be con- 
cerned in it. It is the right and the duty of American 
citizens, and all other distinctions should be swallowed up 
in that sacred term. Let us do this; and since the return 
of Columbus to Spain, no higher tribute will have been 
paid to the advancing opinions of the age, and no nobler 
present made by the New World to the Old. 




MAJOR-GENERAL WILLIAM 0. BUTLER. 



SKETCH 



OF THE 



PUBLIC SERVICES 



OF 



MAJOR-GENERAL W. 0. BUTLER. 



14* (161) 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

Family History — Volunteers as Private — Appointed in 
the Army — River Raisin — Prisoner — Promotion — 
March South — Gen. Call's Letter Page 165 



CHAPTER II. 

Appointment as Major-General — Service in Mexico — 
Monterey — Wounded — Return Home — Second in 
Command in Mexico — Return of General Scott, Com- 
mander-in-Chief 187 



(163) 



LIFE 



OF 



MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER. 



CHAPTER I. 

Family History — Volunteers as Private — Appointed in the Army 
— River Raisin — Prisoner — Promotion — March South — Gen. 
Call's Letter. 

Major-General William O. Butler, of the 
United States volunteer service, is a member of a 
family of soldiers. His grandfather, Thomas But- 
ler, was born April 6, 1720, at the town of Kil- 
kenny in Ireland, where also he was married in 
1742. Three of his five sons were born in Ireland, 
but the other two, Pierce, the father of William O. 
Butler, and Edward the junior of all, were natives 
of Pennsylvania. Every one of these men, and all 
the sons of each, with the exception of one indivi- 
dual, distinguished as a judge, were soldiers. 

Francis P. Blair, Esq., in a sketch of General But- 
ler, recently published, states that Richard, the eld- 
est, was a lieutenant-colonel of the celebrated rifle 
corps of Morgan, and attributes to him much of the 
peculiar celebrity, that famous body of men acquired 
from the high discipline which separated it from 
every other corps of the same arm of the revolu- 
tionary army. On the promotion of Colonel Morgan 
to a higher grade, Lieutenant-Colonel Butler was also 
promoted, and as its colonel led his old regiment in the 
famous coup de main of Wayne on Stony Point. In 
1790, he was appointed a major-general, and No- 
vember 4th of the next year, fell in the bloody and 

165 



166 LIFE OF 

unfortunate but gallant contest of St. Clair with the 
Indians. His death had a peculiar and melancholy 
interest, so that a group of wax figures representing 
the scene, attracted crowds in almost every city of 
the Union. 

The second son, William, rose to the rank of colo- 
nel in the revolutionary war, throughout which he 
served. When the army of the confederacy was so 
reduced, that many of the officers were without 
commands, they organized themselves into a corps 
and offered to serve as privates. The scheme was 
patriotic, but would have introduced great difficul- 
ties in the discipline of the army, and General Wash- 
ington, though he complimented their devotion, 
was too prudent to accept their offer. Of all the 
family he was the pride, and is said to have been 
one of the coolest men in the army in defence, and 
most headlong in attack. 

The third son, Thomas, in 1776, was a student 
of law in the office of Judge Wilson, but at the call 
of his country, abandoned his studies, and entered 
the army as a subaltern. He soon became a cap- 
tain, and at the end of the war held that grade. He 
was at every battle in the middle States, and at 
Brandywine his services were so brilliant that Ge- 
neral Washington, through his aid, Colonel Hamil- 
ton, thanked him at the head of the army for rally- 
ing a body of retreating troops, and giving the 
enemy a heavy fire. At Monmouth he received the 
same compliment from General Wayne, for defend- 
ing a defile attacked by the British, while the regi- 
ment of his brother, Colonel Richard Butler, made 
good its retreat. Disbanded at the end of the war, 
he married, and devoted himself to agricultural pur- 
suits until 1791, when he commanded a battalion 
of the division of his elder brother, Richard. Though 
his leg was broken by a rifle ball, he led his regi- 
ment in the last forlorn charge of General St. Clair, 
and was with difficulty taken from the field by his 



MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER. 167 

brother Edward. He was retained in service in 
1792 as a major, and two years after became a lieu- 
tenant-colonel. During the whiskey rebellion, he 
commanded the post of fort Fayette, and with great 
difficulty preserved it from the insurgents, who, 
doubtless, from their superiority of numoers would 
have captured it, had they not been deterred by 
their respect for the veteran commandant. 

Major-General Wilkinson seems to have had the 
faculty of embroiling himself with all who really 
were "soldiers. Evidences of this are his disputes 
with Scott and Gaines and others, in each of which 
he was manifestly and clearly proven at fault. 
Colonel Edward Butler also attracted his attention, 
and in 1803 was arrested by him and sent from fort 
Adams on the Mississippi to Maryland, and tried on 
a series of charges. Of all of these, Colonel Butler 
was acquitted except of one, which alleged that he 
wore his hair, the old soldier adhering most pertina- 
ciously to the queue of the revolutionary army, in- 
stead of adopting the State prison crop, then de- 
clared, by orders, the uniform of the army. Wil- 
kinson being in command of New Orleans, whither 
Colonel Butler was ordered, to assume command of 
the city, during the next month again arrested him. 
Before however the sentence of the court, which 
met in July of the next year, transpired, Colonel 
Butler died, and the sentence has never become 
known. The bitter persecution of this veteran sol- 
dier, inspired Washington Irving with the pungent 
satire of Wilkinson, whose character he described 
under the name of General Van Poppenburg in 
Knickerbocker's History of New York. 

Percival Butler, the fourth son, and father of Gen- 
eral William O. Butler, was born at Carlisle, in 
Pennsylvania; he was a soldier, having entered the 
service at the age of eighteen, and fought at Mon- 
mouth and Yorktown. "He shared in the hardships 
of Valley Forge, and participated in all the scenes 



168 LIFE OF 

of the war in the middle States, under Genera] 
Washington, except for a brief time, when he was 
attached to Lafayette's light corps. At the ratifi- 
cation of peace, he was in the south with the Penn- 
sylvania brigade. In 1784, he emigrated to Ken- 
tucky, and when the war of 1812 began he was 
alive. He had been Adjutant-General of Kentucky, 
and in that capacity served in one of the many ex- 
peditions sent out against the enemy. 

Edward Butler entered the army at the close of 
the war, and was a captain at the defeat of St. Clair, 
w r here one of his brothers died, and where he had 
the proud satisfaction of preserving the life of an- 
other. He was ultimately the Adjutant-General of 
Wayne's victorious army. 

Of this band of brothers, four left sons, all of 
whom, with one exception, as stated above, entered 
the military service of the United Slates, and all 
maintained their father's fame unsullied. Mr. Blair 
thus speaks of the younger members of the family, 
in his memoir of the present General, recently pub- 
lished in Graham's Magazine: 

" 1st. General Richard Butler's son, William, died 
a lieutenant in the navy, early in the last war. His 
son, Captain James Butler, was at the head of the 
Pittsburg Blues, which company he commanded in 
the campaigns of the Northwest, and was particu- 
larly distinguished in the battle of Massissinnawa. 

"2d. Colonel William Butler, also of the revolu- 
tionary army, had two sons, one died in the navy, 
the other a subaltern in Wayne's army. He was in 
the battle with the Indians in 1794. 

" 3d. Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Butler, of the 
old stock, had three sons, the eldest a judge. The 
second, Colonel Robert Butler, was at the head of 
General Jackson's staff throughout the last war. 
The third, William E. Butler, also served in the 
army of General Jackson. 

" 4th. Percival Butler, captain in the revolution- 



MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER. 169 

ary war, and Adjutant-General of Kentucky during 
the last war, had four sons : first, Thomas, who was 
a captain, and aid to General Jackson at New Or- 
leans. Next, General William O. Butler, the sub- 
ject of this notice. Third, Richard, who was assist- 
ant adjutant-general in the campaigns of the war 
of 1812. Percival Butler, the youngest son, now a 
distinguished lawyer, was not of an age to bear 
arms in the last war. Of this second generation of 
the Butlers, there are nine certainly, and probably 
more, engaged in the present war." 
f Such was the family of the Butlers, essentially 
men of action, and happily blending the peculiari- 
ties of the land of their fathers and of our own, 
to which, by birth or at the price of their blood, 
they possessed an unimpeachable right. In all the 
contests of the United States, whether with a sav- 
age or civilized foe, the family have been conspicu- 
ous, and cast around the name of the present Major 
General, if not a claim on his countrymen, at least 
something as near to that, as the nature of our 
democratic institutions will admit of. When the 
last war began, William O. Butler had just con- 
cluded his course of studies at Transylvania Uni- 
versity, where he had been graduated with distinc- 
tion. When the news of the surrender of Hull's 
army reached Kentucky, the whole State was 
aroused, and among the first to volunteer was our 
hero. Abandoning at once all the allurements of 
society, he enlisted at Lexington as a private in the 
company of Captain Hart, thus entering the service 
in which he was destined to occupy the highest rank 
in the humblest. Before the army commenced its 
march, he was elected a corporal, and in this grade 
marched to the relief of fort Wayne, then invested 
by the hostile Indians. The Kentucky volunteers, 
it is well known, drove the enemy before them to 
their own towns on the Wabash, and thence return 
ed to a winter cantonment on the Miami of the lakes 
15 



1 70 LIFE OP 

At this place he was offered a commission in the se- 
cond regiment United States infantry which he de- 
clined, unless allowed to remain on the frontier. 
His wish was acceded to, and he was appointed in- 
stead of the second, into the seventeenth, foot, then 
a portion of General Winchester's army. Nothing 
could exceed the uncomfortable condition and pri- 
vation of the volunteers in their winter quarters, 
where they waited in vain for supplies and rein- 
forcements ; at last, wearied out, the Kentucky vol- 
unteers of Colonels Lewis, Allen, and Major Madi- 
son, and three companies, the seventeenth infantry 
advanced to attack the allied British and Indian 
army which defended Detroit. This was incum- 
bent on the volunteers from the anticipations formed 
of them at home, and the confident hope that the 
disgrace of Hull's surrender would be wiped out. 
General Winchester gave them distinct orders to 
go no further than Presque Isle until they should be 
reinforced by the main body. Having reached 
Presque Isle they heard that a party of British and 
Indians had occupied Frenchtown, which they de- 
termined at once to attack. The right wing of the 
attacking force was commanded by Colonel Allen ; 
Major Graves had the centre, and Madison the left. 
When near the town the column deployed and ad- 
vanced under a heavy fire of howitzers and mus- 
ketry. Graves and Madison, by a rapid charge, 
drove the enemy from their shelter in the houses, 
and behind the picket-work, forcing them into the 
woods. Allen, in his part of the field, was equally 
fortunate, but was forced to fight his enemy again 
in the wood. Here too he was successful. 

The enemy attempted to retake their position by 
a charge, but failed and fled. They were pursued 
several miles, and finally dispersed. The American 
loss was twelve killed and forty-five wounded. Of 
the Indians alone, twelve were left dead on the 
field 



MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER. 



171 



In this battle, ensign Butler distinguished him- 
self; advancing to the attack with the wing com- 
manded by Major Madison, a strong party of In- 
dians were discovered advancing to seize a fence 
and hold it as a cover. Calling to a few men around 
him he ran directly to oppose them, and succeeded 
in occupying and maintaining the position against 
a far more numerous party. During the action he 
was yet again remarkable, having brought off and 
saved a wounded man, who, otherwise, during the 
alternations of the day, must have fallen into the 
hands of the enemy. This occurred on the 18th of 
January, and the volunteers immediately encamped 
and waited for General Winchester, who with the 
rest of the army arrived on the 20th. The whole 
force now assembled was nearly eight hundred 



strong. 



On the 22d of January, Winchester had placed 
within his pickets six hundred men, and kept the 
rest encamped in an open field on the other side of 
the river. On the morning of that day, Proctor, 
Split Log and Round Head, at the head of a 
combined force, British and Indian of fifteen hun- 
dred men, attacked the position with a heavy fire 
of musketry and six cannon, against the latter of 
which, the pickets were no defence. The body of 
men beyond the river were at once overpowered 
and attempted to cross the river. Two companies 
within the fort discovering the distress of their com- 
rades sallied to their relief, but with them were 
forced to retreat. All of these men were either 
killed or forced to surrender on the British promise 
of protection. The other wing (the left) made a 
steady defence and beat back three assaults of the 
British fortv-first foot, which lost thirty-five killed 
and one hundrsd wounded. Great efforts had been 
made, but in vain, by Winchester and Lewis, to 
rally the ri^ht wing which had been beyond the 
river, but unfortunately in this attempt both of 



172 LIFE OF 

these officers were captured. The army yet con- 
tinued to fight and repulsed every assault of the 
enemy until eleven o'clock, when finding resistance 
in vain, on Proctor's pledging himself to the gene- 
ral, that he would protect them if they surrendered, 
which otherwise would be out of his power, the ge- 
neral sent a flag to the pickets, by means of which, 
after passing and re-passing three times, a surren- 
der was negotiated ; at that time, thirty-five com- 
missioned officers, and four hundred and fifty en- 
listed men remained, after fighting six hours against 
artillery, surrounded by a thousand savages. At 
this tinfe the killed, wounded and missing, including 
those that had been outside the pickets, amounted 
to more than three hundred. The loss of the Bri- 
tish could not have been less. 

The consequences of this sad affair are too well 
known. Proctor violated every pledge he had giv- 
en ; the survivors were not permitted to bury the 
dead, and a large portion of themselves were mur- 
dered in cold blood, by the Indians, while a British 
Colonel, at the head of an ample force, stood by and 
did not strike one blow, or make any effort to save 
them. Mr. Blair tells the following anecdote of 
Ensign Butler, in this battle, which, as it does not 
enter into the general history of the country, had 
best be told in his own words : 

" After the rout and massacre of the right wing, 
belonging; to Wells's command, the whole force of 
the British and Indians was concentrated against the 
small body of troops under Major Madison, that 
maintained their ground within the picketed gar- 
dens. A double barn, commanding the plot of 
ground on which the Kentuckians stood, was ap- 
proached on one side by the Indians, under the cover 
of an orchard and fence ; the British, on the other 
side, being so posted as to command the space be- 
tween it and the pickets. A party in the rear of 
the barn were discovered advancing to take posses- 



MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER. 173 

sioii of it. All saw the fatal consequences of the 
secure lodgment of the enemy at a place which 
would present every man within the pickets at close 
rifle-shot to the aim of their marksmen. Major 
Madison inquired if there was no one who would 
volunteer to run the gauntlet of the fire of the Bri- 
tish and Indian lines, and put a torch to the com- 
bustibles within the barn, to save the remnant of 
the little army from the sacrifice. Butler, without 
a moment's delay, took some blazing sticks from a 
tire at hand, leaped the pickets, and, running at his 
utmost speed, thrust the fire into the straw within 
the barn. One who was an anxious spectator of 
the event we narrate, says, ' that although volley 
upon volley was fired at him, Butler, after making 
some steps on his way back, turned to see if the fire 
had taken, and, not being satisfied, returned to the 
barn, and set it in a blaze. As the conflagration 
grew, the enemy was seen retreating from the rear 
of the building, which they had entered at one end, 
as the flame ascended in the other. Soon after 
reaching the pickets in safety, amid the shouts of 
his friends, he was struck by a ball in his breast. 
Believing, from the pain he felt, that it had pene- 
trated his chest, turning to Adjutant (now General) 
McCalla, one of his Lexington comrades, and press- 
ing his hand to the spot, he said, ' I fear this shot is 
mortal, but while I am able to move, I will do my 
duty.' To the anxious inquiries of this friend,, who 
met him soon afterward, he opened his vest, with ;i 
smile, and showed him that the ball had spent itself 
on the thick wadding of his coat, and on his breast 
bone'. He suffered, however, for many weeks.' 

Among the few who survived the massacre was 
Butler, who was marched on foot to Fort Niagara, 
where he remained for a long time, amusing him- 
self by literary pursuits and studies. Much of his 
time was given up to poetry ; and his verses, though 
never intended to be published, from the various 



174 LIFE OF 

extracts recently printed, since all that relates to 
him has become of interest, possess unusual merit, 
when we remember his age when they were writ- 
ten. 

After a sojourn in Canada, he was permitted to 
return to the United States on parole, and almost 
immediately was promoted to a captaincy in the re- 
giment to which he belonged. As this gave great 
dissatisfaction in the corps, all the lieutenants of 
which were overslaughed, he was almost immedi- 
ately transferred to the 44th, a new regiment. 
When free from his parole, by virtue of an exchange, 
he at once took the field, with a company recruited 
at Nashville, Tennessee, and marched to join General 
Jackson alone, before any other portion of the re- 
giment was fully organized. General Call, then a 
subaltern of Captain Butler, thus describes the par- 
ticipation of his superior officer in the campaign — 
a more vivid and graphic sketch can scarcely be 
found : 

Tallahasse, April 3, 1844. 

"Sir — I avail myself of the earliest leisure I 
have had since the receipt of your letter of the 18th 
of February, to give you a reply. 

"A difference of political sentiments will not in- 
duce me to withhold the narrative you have re- 
quested, of the military services of Colonel William 
O. Butler, during the late war with Great Britain, 
while attached to the army of the South. My inti- 
mate association with him, in camp, on the march, 
and in the field, has perhaps made me as well ac- 
quainted with his merits, as a gentleman and a sol- 
dier, as any other man living. And although we are 
now standing in opposite ranks, I cannot forget the 
days and nights we have stood side by side, facing 
the common enemy of our country, sharing the same 
fatigues, dangers, and privations, and participating 
in the same pleasures and enjoyments. The feel 



MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER. 175 

ings and sympathies springing from such associa- 
tions, in the days of our youth, can never be remov- 
ed or impaired by a difference of opinion with regard 
to men or measures, when each may well believe 
the other equally sincere as himself, and where the 
most ardent desire of both is to sustain the honour, 
the happiness, and prosperity of our country. 

" Soon after my appointment in the army of the 
United States, as a lieutenant, in the fall of 1814, I 
was ordered to join the company of Captain Butler, 
of the 44th regiment of infantry, then at Nashville, 
Tennessee. When I arrived, and reported myself, 
1 found the company under orders to join our regi- 
ment in the South. The march, mostly through an 
unsettled wilderness, was conducted by Captain 
Butler with his usual promptitude and energy, and 
by forced and rapid movements, we arrived at Fort 
Montgomery, the head-quarters of General Jackson, 
a short distance above the Florida line, just in time 
to follow our beloved general in his bold enterprise 
to drive the enemy from his strong position in a neu- 
tral territory. The van-guard of the army destined 
for the invasion of Louisiana, had made Pensacola 
its head-quarters, and the British navy in the 
Gulf of Mexico, had rendezvoused in that beautiful 
bay. 

" The penetrating sagacity of General Jackson 
discovered the advantage of the position assumed by 
the British forces, and with a decision and energy 
which never faltered, he resolved to find his enemy, 
even under the flag of a neutral power. This was 
done by a prompt and rapid march, surprising and 
cutting off all the advanced pickets, until we arrived 
within gun-shot of the fort at Pensacola. The army 
of General Jackson was then so inconsiderable as to 
render a reinforcement of a single company, com- 
manded by such an officer as Captain Butler, an im- 
portant acquisition. And although there were sev- 
eral companies of regular troops ordered to march 



176 LIFE OF 

from Tennessee at the same time, Captain Butler's, 
by his extraordinary energy and promptitude, was 
the only one which arrived in time to join this ex- 
pedition. His company formed a part of the centre 
column of attack at Pensacola. The street we en- 
tered was defended by a battery in front, which 
fired on us incessantly, while several strong block- 
houses, on our flanks, discharged upon us small arms 
and artillery. But a gallant and rapid charge soon 
carried the guns in front, and the town immediately 
surrendered. 

"In this fight Captain Butler led on his company 
with his usual intrepidity. He had one officer, 
Lieutenant Flournoy, severely wounded, and seve- 
ral non-commissioned officers and privates killed and 
wounded. 

"From Pensacola, after the object of the expedi- 
tion was completed, by another prompt and rapid 
movement, we arrived at New Orleans a few weeks 
before the appearance of the enemy. 

"On the 23d of December the signal-gun an- 
nounced the approach of the enemy. The previous 
night they had surprised and captured one of our 
pickets; had ascended a bayou, disembarked, and 
had taken possession of the left bank of the Missis- 
sippi, within six miles of New Orleans. The energy 
of every officer was put in requisition, to concentrate 
our forces in time to meet the enemy. Captain 
Butler was one of the first to arrive at the general's 
quarters, and ask instructions ; they were received 
and promptly executed. Our regiment, stationed 
on the opposite side, was transported across the 
river. All the available forces of our army, not 
much exceeding fifteen hundred men, were concen- 
trated in the city ; and while the sun went down the 
line of battle was formed ; and every officer took the 
station assigned him in the fight. The infantry 
formed on the open square, in front of the cathedral, 
waiting in anxious expectation for the order to 



MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER. 177 

move. During this momentary pause, while the 
enemy was expected to enter the city, a scene of 
deep and thrilling interest was presented. Every 
gallery, porch and window around the square were 
filled with the fair forms of beauty, in silent anxiety 
and alarm, waving their handkerchiefs to the gal- 
lant and devoted band which stood before them, 
prepared to die, or defend them from the rude intru- 
sion of a foreign soldiery. It was a scene calcu- 
lated to awaken emotions never to be forgotten. It 
appealed to the chivalry and patriotism of every 
officer and soldier — it inspired every heart, and 
nerved every arm for battle. From this impressive 
scene the army marched to meet the enemy, and 
about eight o'clock at night they were surprised in 
their encampment, immediately on the banks of the 
Mississippi. Undiscovered, our line was formed in 
silence within a short distance of the enemy ; a ra- 
pid charge was made into their camp, and a despe- 
rate conflict ensued. After a determined resistance 
the enemy gave way, but disputing every inch of 
ground we gained. In advancing over ditches and 
fences in the night, rendered still more dark by the 
smoke of the battle, much confusion necessarily en- 
sued, and many officers became separated from their 
commands. It more than once occurred during the 
fight that some of our officers, through mistake, en- 
tered the enemy's lines; and the British officers in 
like manner entered ours. The meritorious officer 
in command of our regiment, at the commencement 
of the battle, lost his position in the darkness and 
confusion, and was unable to regain it until the ac- 
tion was over. In this manner, for a short time, the 
regiment was without a commander, and its move- 
ments were regulated by the platoon officers, which 
increased the confusion and irregularity of the ad- 
vance. In tliis critical situation, and in the heat of 
the bit tie, Captain Butler, as the senior officer pre- 
sent, assumed command of the regiment, and led it 



178 LIFE OF 

on most gallantly to repeated and successful charges, 
until the fight ended in the complete rout of the 
enemy. We were still pressing on their rear, when 
an officer of the general's staff rode up and ordered 
the pursuit discontinued. Captain Butler urged its 
continuance, and expressed the confident belief of 
his ability to take many prisoners, if permitted to 
advance. But the order was promptly repeated, 
under the well-founded apprehension that our troops 
might come into collision with each other, an event 
which had unhappily occurred at a previous hour 
of the fight. No corps on that field was more 
bravely led to battle than the regiment commanded 
by Captain Butler, and no officer of any rank, save 
the commander-in-chief, was entitled to higher cre- 
dit for the achievement of that glorious night. 

" A short time before the battle of the 8th of 
January, Captain Butler was detailed to command 
the guard in front of the encampment. A house 
standing near the bridge, in advance of his position, 
had been taken possession of by the light troops of 
the enemy, from whence they annoyed our guard. 
Captain Butler determined to dislodge them and 
burn the house. He accordingly marched to the 
attack at the head of his command, but the enemy 
retired before him. Seeing them retreat, he halted 
his guard, and advanced himself, accompanied by 
two or three men only, for the purpose of burning 
the house. It was an old frame building, weather- 
boarded, without ceiling or plaster in the inside, 
with a single door opening to the British camp. On 
entering the house he found a soldier of the enemy 
concealed in one corner, whom he captured, and 
sent to the rear with his men, remaining alone in 
the house. While he was in the act of kindling a 
fire, a detachment of the enemy, unperceived, occu- 
pied the only door. The first impulse was to force, 
with his single arm, a passage through them, but he 
was instantly seized in a violent manner by two or 



MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER. 179 

three stout fellows, who pushed him back against 
the wall with such force as to burst otf the weather- 
boarding from the wall, and he fell through the 
opening thus made. In an instant he recovered 
himself, and under a heavy fire from the enemy, he 
retreated until supported by the guard, which he 
immediately led on to the attack, drove the British 
light troops from their strong position, and burnt 
the house in the presence of the two armies. 

" I witnessed on that field many deeds of daring 
courage, but none of which more excited my admi- 
ration than this. 

" Captain Butler was soon after in the battle of 
the 8th of January, where he sustained his pre- 
viously high and well earned reputation for bravery 
and usefulness. But that battle, which, from its 
important results, has eclipsed those which preceded 
it, was but a slaughter of the enemy, with trivial 
loss on our part, and presenting few instances of in- 
dividual distinction. 

" Captain Butler received the brevet rank of ma- 
jor for his gallant services during that eventful 
campaign, and the reward of merit was never more 
worthily bestowed. Soon after the close of the war, 
he was appointed aid-de-camp to General Jackson, 
in which station he remained until he retired from 
the army. Since that period J have seldom had the 
pleasure of meeting with my valued friend and com- 
panion in arms, and I know but little of his career 
in civil life. But in camp, his elevated principles, 
his intelligence and generous feelings, won for him 
the respect and confidence of all who knew him ; 
and where he is best known, I will venture to say, 
he is still most highly appreciated for every attri- 
bute which constitutes the gentleman and the sol- 
dier. 

" I am, sir, very respectfully, 

"R. K. CALL. 

" Mr. William Tanner." 



180 LIFE OP 

General Jackson was also about this time appeal- 
ed to, and wrote an energetic letter in reference to 
his old aid-de-camp, which, while it displays the 
high estimate placed by the great commander on 
his younger associate, is too significant of the pecu- 
liarities of General Jackson, not to be a matter of 
interest. We take it from the sketch of Mr. Blair, 
who from family and political association, had am- 
ple means to prepare a far more elaborate life of 
General Butler than he has done. 

" Hermitage, Feb. 20, 1844. 

" My Dear Sir : — You ask me to give you my 
opinion of the military services of the then Captain, 
now Colonel, William O. Butler, of Kentucky, dur- 
ing the investment of New Orleans by the British 
forces in 1814 and 1815. I wish I had sufficient 
strength to speak fully of the merit of the services 
of Colonel Butler on that occasion; this strength I 
have not : Suffice it to say, that on all occasions he 
displayed that heroic chivalry, and calmness of 
judgment in the midst of danger, which distinguish 
the valuable officer in the hour of battle. In a con- 
spicuous manner were those noble qualities dis- 
played by him on the night of the 23d of December, 
1814, and on the 8th of January, 1815, as well as 
at all times during the presence of the British army 
at New Orleans. In short, he was to be found at 
all points where duty called. I hazard nothing in 
saving that should our country again be engaged in 
war during the active age of Colonel Butler, he 
would be one of the very best selections that could 
be made to command our army, and lead the eagles 
of our country on to victory and renown. He has 
sufficient energy to assume all responsibility neces- 
sary to success, and for his country's good. 

"ANDREW JACKSON." 



MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER. 181 

In 1816, General Jackson gave evidence how 
highly he esteemed Captain Butler, by appointing 
him aid-de-camp, with the rank of colonel, which 
position he retained in the peace-establishment. 

He, however, though a soldier, had no preference 
for the military profession in a season of peace, and 
several years before General Jackson laid down his 
profession, resigned, and immediately resumed the 
study of that profession which had been inter- 
rupted by the declaration of war. He then married 
and established himself on the estate of his father, 
at the point where the Ohio and Kentucky rivers 
meet. Mr. Blair thus describes his home : 

" The region around him was wild and romantic, 
sparsely settled, and by pastoral people. There are 
no populous towns. The high, rolling, and yet rich 
lands — the precipitous cliffs of the Kentucky, of 
Eagle, Tavern, and other tributaries, which pour 
into it near the mouth — make this section of the 
State still, to some extent, a wilderness of thickets 
— and the tangled pea-vine, the grape-vine, and 
nut-bearing trees, which rendered all Kentucky, 
until the intrusion of the whites, one great Indian 
park. The whoie luxuriant domain was preserved 
by the Indians as a pasture for buffalo, deer, elk, 
and other animals — their enjoyment alike as a chase 
and a subsistence — by excluding every tribe from 
fixing a habitation in it. Its name consecrated it as 
the dark and bloody ground ; and war pursued every 
foot that trod it. In the midst of this region, in 
April, 1791, William O. Butler was born, in Jessa- 
mine county, on the Kentucky river. His father 
had married, in Lexington, soon after his arrival in 
Kentucky, 1782, Miss' Howkins, a sister-in-law of 
Colonel Todd, who commanded and perished in the 
battle of the Blue-Licks. Following the instincts 
of his family, which seemed ever to court danger, 
General Pierce Butler, as neighborhood encroached 
around him, removed, not long after the birth of his 
16 



182 LIFE OF 

son William, to the mouth of the Kentucky river. 
Through this section the Indian war-path into the 
heart of Kentucky passed. Until the peace of 1794, 
there was scarcely a day that some hostile savage 
did not prowl through the tangled forests, and the 
labyrinths of hills, streams and cliffs, which adapted 
this region to their lurking warfare. From it they 
emerged when they made their last formidable in- 
cursion, and pushed their foray to the environs of 
Frankfort, the capital of the State. General Pierce 
Butler had on one side of him the Ohio, on the far- 
ther shore of which the savage hordes still held the 
mastery, and on the other the romantic region 
through which they hunted and pressed their war 
enterprises. And here, amid the scenes of border 
warfare, his son William had that spirit, which has 
animated him through life, educated by the legends 
of the Indian-fighting hunters of Kentucky." 

Amid these scenes Colonel Butler lived, and found 
that content and peace of mind, surpassing wealth, 
so necessary to one whose youth had been passed 
amid the alarums of a frontier war. The following 
verses, written at that time, show the nature of Col. 
Butler's life, and demonstrate how utterly the sol- 
dier's sword had been converted into the pruning 
hook: 

THE BOAT HORN. 

O, boatman ! wind that horn again, 

For never did the list'ning ear 

Upon its lambent bosom hear 
So wild, so soft, so sweet a strain — 
What though thy notes are sad, and few, 

By every simple boatman blown, 
Yet is each pulse to nature true, 

And melody in every tone. 
How oft in boyhood's joyous day, 

Unmindful of the lapsing hours, 
I've loitered on my homeward way 

By wild Ohio's brink of flowers, 



MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER. 183 

While some lone boatman, from the deck, 
Poured his soft numbers to that tide, 

As if to charm from storm and wreck, 
The boat where all his fortunes ride ! 

Delighted Nature drank the sound, 

Enchanted — Echo bore it round 

In whispers soft, and softer still, 

From hill to plain, and plain to hill, 

Till e'en the thoughtless, frolick boy, 

Elate with hope, and wild with joy, 

Who gambolled by the river's side, 

And sported with the fretting tide, 

Feels something new pervade his breast, 

Chain his light step, repress his jest, 

Bends o'er the flood his eager ear, 

To catch the sounds far off, yet dear — 

Drinks the sweet draught, but knows not why 

The tear of rapture fills his eye. 

And can he now, to manhood grown, 

Tell why those notes, simple and lone, 

As on the ravished ear they fall, 

Bind every sense in magic spell? 

There is a tide of feeling- given 

To all on earth, its fountain Heaven. 

Beo-innino - with the dewy flower, 

Just oped in Flora's vernal bower — 

Rising creation's orders through, 

With louder murmur, brighter hue — 

That tide is sympathy ! its ebb and flew 

Give life its hues of joy and wo. 

Music, the master-spirit that can move 

Its waves to war, or lull them into love — 

Can cheer the sinking sailor mid the wave, 

And bid the soldier on ! nor fear the grave — 

Inspire the fainting pilgrim on his road, 

And elevate his soul to claim his God. 

Then, boatman! wind that horn again! 

Thouo-h much of sorrow mark its strain, 

Yet are its notes to sorrow dear; 

What though they wake fond memory's tear ! 

Tears are sad memory's sacred feast, 

And rapture oft her chosen guest. 

In the west, no explanation of this poem is needed, 
but in the eastern portions of the country its refer- 
ence may not be apparent. It has relation to the 



184 LIFE OF 

wild boat-horn of wood, like that of the Swiss herd- 
men, used by the early navigators of the Ohio and 
other waters, previous to the commencement of the 
age of steam and turmoil. On this rude instru- 
ment they were accustomed to utter the most simple 
yet the most touching melodies, the tradition of 
which is now preserved through the whole west. 
Only, however, on the upper Missouri and its tribu- 
taries now can be heard those strains, in which were 
mingled the monotone music of the Indians and the 
gayer rhythm of France, which Ledyard and Moore 
thought worthy of translation and imitation. 

This may not be an improper place to introduce 
a few selections from the early poems of Butler, 
generally written while he was an inmate of a Bri- 
tish prison. It will be seen that the massacre of 
the river Raisin made a deep impression on him. 

THE FIELD OF RAISIN. 

The battle's o'er! the din is past, 
Night's mantle on the field is cast ; 
The Indian yell is heard no more, 
And silence broods o'er Erie's shore. 
At this lone hour I go to tread 
The field where valour vainly bled — 
To raise the wounded warrior's crest, 
Or warm with tears his icy breast; 
To treasure up his last command, 
And bear it to his native land. 
It may one pulse of joy impart 
To a fond mother's bleeding heart; 
Or for a moment it may dry 
The tear-drop in the widow's eye. 
Vain hope, away ! The widow ne'er 
Her warrior's dying wish shall hear. 
The passing zephyr bears no sigh, 
No wounded warrior meets the eye — 
. Death is his sleep by Erie's wave, 
Of Raisin's snow we heap his grave! 
flow many hopes lie murdered here — 
The mother's joy. the father's pride, 
The country's boast, the foeman's fear, 
In wilder'd havoc, side by side. 



MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER. 185 

Lend me, thou silent queen of night, 
Lend me awhile thy waning light, 
That I may see each well-loved form, 
That sunk beneath the morning storm. 

These verses are introductory to a larger poem, 
which is a series of eulogies on his murdered com- 
panions, belonging to the company of Captain Hart, 
himself a victim of Proctor's massacre, and a ne- 
phew of two distinguished statesmen of Kentucky, 
Henry Clay and James Brown. 

And here I see that youthful band, 
That loved to move at Hart's command ; 
I saw them for the battle dressed, 
And still where danger thickest pressed, 
I marked their crimson plumage wave. 
How many filled this bloody grave! 
Their pillow and their winding-sheet 
The virgin snow — a shroud most meet! 
But wherefore do I linger here? 
Why drop the unavailing tear 1 
Where'er I turn, some youthful form, 
Like floweret broken by the storm, 
Appeals to me in sad array, 
And bids me yet a moment stay, 
Till I could fondly lay me down 
And sleep with him on the cold, cold ground. 
For thee, thou dread and solemn plain, 
I ne'er shall look on thee again; 
And Spring, with her effacing showers, 
Shall come, and Summer's mantling flowers ; 
And each succeeding winter throw 
On thy red breast new robes of snow ; 
Yet 1 will wear thee in my heart, 
All dark and gory as thou art. 

Amid these scenes Colonel Butler remained for 
twenty years in seclusion, when he was by the 
unanimous nomination of the democracy of the dis- 
trict in which he resided, selected as a candidate for 
Congress. He was on two successive terms elected, 
and would doubtless have been a third time had he not 
positively refused to serve. He was rarely heard in 
10* 



186 LIFE OF 

the sessions of Congress, but several noble addresses 
delivered there by him, prove that there was more 
than one orator, even in Kentucky. 

In 1844, he was nominated as governor of Ken- 
tucky, and a great writer, who has made politics 
his study, has declared lhai ihere is but little doubt 
that lie would have beer, elected, but for the fact 
that it was supposed throughout the State that the 
non-election of Ousley, the whig candidate, would 
prove most injurious to the chances of Mr. Clay's 
nomination by the great :onvention of the Whig 
party. Mr. Clay, it is well known, has for years 
been the popular idol of his State, and this circum- 
stance, united with anxiety to give a chief magis- 
trate to the Union, caused Colonel Butler's defeat. 
The nomination of the latter, however, certainly 
diminished the whig majority from twenty thousand 
votes to five thousand. 

On the election of Mr. Polk, there was a general 
expectation that Colonel Butler would have been ap- 
pointed secretary at war. To many it was a subject 
of regret, that the President did not select him, who 
from the mingled studies of his career in camp and 
at the bar, was so well calculated for this post. It 
is perhaps, however, best for the democratic party, 
that this was not the case, as it is scarcely proba- 
ble, that in that event he would now have been 
selected as the candidate of the democratic party 
for the second office of the nation. 



MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER 



18f 



CHAPTER II. 

Appointment as Major-General— Service in Mexico— Monterey 
— Wounded — Return Home — Second in Command in Mexico 
— Return of General Scott, Commander-in-Chief. 

At the time that hostilities were commenced be- 
tween the United States and Mexico, it was mani- 
fest that the regular army would be too small to 
occupy that warlike republic, in which the stormy 
events of the last thirty years have made almost 
every man a soldier. The government at once de- 
termined to appeal to the patriotism of the people, 
and to call out volunteers. As however it was 
known that this class of troops had a great aver- 
sion to serving under officers of the regular army, 
it was determined to appoint two generals of divi- 
sion and a number of brigadiers, from civil life, to 
command the new levies. The command of one of 
the divisions was conferred on General Butler, and 
met with universal approbation, being the only 
one of the appointments of general officers by Mr. 
Polk, against which very serious objections were 
not urged. General Butler was entitled to this 
commission ; he had learned a soldier's duty in the 
presence of the enemy, and not in marching militia 
about the streets of a city, and therefore his promo- 
tion was both popular among the people, and wel- 
come to the veterans of the army, with whom he 
was to serve. 

As soon as his troops were raised he hurried to 
Mexico to support General Taylor in his invasion. 
Immediately on the advance of the army, General 
Butler was assigned to the command of the field di- 
vision of volunteers, and seems to have acquired in 



188 LIFE OF 

a peculiar manner the confidence of General Tay- 
lor. The circumstances attending the advance of 
the army are well known : it may not be however 
improper again to collate in this place, the series of 
official reports, which refer to the subject of this 
memoir. 

General Taylor, in his brief report, dated Sep- 
tember 22, 1846, announcing the capture of the city 
of Monterey, took occasion to refer to General But- 
ler's conduct in the most particular manner, and in 
the full report, dated October 9th, spoke explicitly, 
regretting that his wound, received on the 21st ult., 
deprived him of his valuable services. 

The following is General Butler's own report : 
" Pursuant to the instructions of the major-gene- 
ral commanding, on the 21st instant, at about eight 
o'clock, A. M., 1 marched my division, (with the 
exception of one company from each infantry regi- 
ment, left to guard the camp,) and placed it in order 
of battle, under cover, immediately in rear of the 
mortar and howitzer battery, my left resting on the 
main road to Monterey. I had been in position but 
a short time, when I received the general's further 
orders to move as speedily as practicable, with three 
regiments, to the support of General Twiggs' divi- 
sion, then engaged in an attempt to carry the ene- 
my's first battery on our left. To expedite this 
movement, I marched the three nearest regiments, 
commanded respectively by Colonels Davis, Camp- 
bell, and Mitchell, by the left flank, leaving Colonel 
Ormsby to sustain the batteries. Finding the rifle 
regiment in front, that of Colonel Campbell was or- 
dered to take its place. The two last mentioned 
regiments constituting General Quitman's field bri- 
gade, he took the immediate command of them, and 
moved off with spirit and promptness in the direc- 
tion indicated by the enemy's line of fire. Having 
seen General Quitman's brigade fairly in motion, I 
turned my attention to that of General Hamer, now 



MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER. 189 

consisting of the Ohio regiment only. Pursuing the 
instructions of the major-general, I felt my way gra- 
dually, without any knowledge of the localities, into 
that part of the city bordering on the enemy's con- 
tinuous line of batteries, assailed at every step by 
heavy fires in front and flank. After having tra- 
versed several squares, I met Major Mansfield, the 
engineer who had conducted the movement of Ge- 
neral Twiggs' division on the first battery. He in- 
formed me of the failure of that attack, and advised 
the withdrawal of my command, as there could no 
longer be any object in advancing further, warning 
me at the same time that if I advanced I must meet 
a fire that would sweep all before it. Knowing the 
major-general commanding to be but a short dis- 
tance in the rear, I galloped back and communicated 
this information, in consequence of which he gave 
the order to retrograde, and the movement was com- 
menced accordingly. In a short time, however, it 
was known that General Quitman's brigade had not 
only stormed the battery in question, but had also 
carried a stone house of considerable strength con- 
nected with the first, and occupied by the enemy's 
infantry. The direction of General Hamer's bri- 
gade was at once changed, and the city re-entered 
by another route, which, after about a half hour's 
march under a destructive fire, brought it within, 
say one hundred yards, of the enemy's second fort, 
called El Diablo. A very slight reconnoissance suf- 
fi ed to convince me that this was a position of no 
ordinary strength. Still, feeling its importance, 
after consulting with part of my staff as to its prac- 
ticability, I had resolved to attempt carrying it by 
storm, and was in the act of directing the advance, 
when I received a wound which compelled me to 
halt. Colonel Mitchell was at the same time wound- 
ed at the head of his regiment, as was his adjutant. 
The men were^falling fast under the converging fire 
of at least three distinct batteries, that continually 



190 LIFE OF 

swept the intervening space through which it was 
necessary to pass. The loss of blood, too, from my 
wound, render-ed it necessary that I should quit the 
field ; and I had discovered at a second glance that 
the position was covered by a heavy fire of mus- 
ketry from other works directly in its rear, that I 
had not seen in the first hasty examination. Under 
all these discouragements, I was most reluctantly 
compelled, on surrendering the command, to advise 
the withdrawal of the troops to a less exposed posi- 
tion. There is a possibility that the work might 
have been carried, but not without excessive loss, 
and if carried, I feel assured it would have been un- 
tenable. 

" Accordingly, the division under General Hamer, 
on whom devolved the command, moved to a new 
position near the captured fort, and within sustain- 
ing distance of our field batteries on the left. The 
troops remained in and near this position, and under 
fire of the enemy's batteries, until late in the day. 
For the details of the after proceedings of the day, 
I refer to General Hamer's report. 

" It is with no little pride and gratification that 
I bear testimony of the gallantry and good conduct 
of my command. Were proof wanting, a mournful 
one is to be found in the subjoined return of the ca- 
sualties of the day. That part of my division pro- 
perly in the field did not exceed eleven hundred, of 
which number full one-fifth were either killed or 
wounded. The fact that troops for the first time 
under fire should have suffered such loss without 
shrinking, in a continuous struggle for more than 
two hours, and mainlv against a sheltered and inac- 
cessible foe, finds but few parallels, and is of itself 
an euloorium to which I need not add. That there 
wore some more prominent for skill and gallantry 
than others, even in a contest where all were brave, 
there can be no doubt ; and I leave to those better 
qualified from their situations than myself the plea- 



MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER. 191 

sing, though delicate task, of reporting upon their 
respective merits. 

" Of my brigadiers, however, it is proper that 1 
should myself speak. General Hamer was placed 
in a situation where nothing brilliant could be 
achieved, but which, at every moment, imperatively 
demanded prudence and calm unbending courage. 
It is but justice to him to say that I found him equal 
to the emergency. 

"General Quitman had before him a field in which 
military genius and skill were called into requisition, 
and honours could be fairly won, and I but echo the 
general voice in saying that he nobly availed him- 
self of the occasion. 

" My special thanks are due to Major L. Thomas, 
assistant adjutant-general, General A. Sidney John- 
ston, of Texas, acting inspector-general, and Lieu- 
tenant G. W. Lay, aid-de-camp, who not only dis- 
played great gallantry and coolness, but, by their 
professional skill, activity, and energy, rendered 
valuable service throughout the action. After my 
withdrawal they remained with the troops in the 
field. 

" Surgeon R. P. Hunt, my volunteer aid-de-camp, 
also evinced great coolness, and conveyed promptly 
the orders confided to him. 

" On my way back to camp, I found the Ken- 
tucky regiment, under the command of Colonel 
Ormsby, drawn up in fine order to repel a threat- 
ened charge from a large body of Mexican cavalry 
then in view. Though necessarily kept from the 
field of action proper, they occupied a most impor- 
tant position, and had two men wounded in defend- 
ing it. 

" I make no mention of the movement of Captain 
Webster's howitzer battery, which was withdrawn 
from division and placed under charge of the chief 
of artillery." 



192 LIFE OF 

As a supplement to the above report, we may in- 
sert the following letter written to a relative in 
Louisville, which has become important as showing 
how fully General Butler approved of the granting 
of the peculiar terms to the Mexican garrison of 
Monterey, to which so much objection was made at 
the time, in the United States. 

" Monterey is ours, but not without a heavy loss, 
and my division has probably sustained more than 
one half of it. I am myself wounded, but not badly. 
I was struck by a musket-ball below the knee ; it 
entered in front, grazed the bones without injuring 
them, ranged round through the flesh, and came out 
on the opposite side. 

" I became faint from loss of blood, and was com- 
pelled to leave the field, after having been in it 
under a heavy fire of grape and musketry for three 
hours. — I have been required by my surgeon to keep 
perfectly still, ever since the battle. 

"I was in the act of leading the Ohio regiment 
to storm two of the most formidable batteries in the 
town, flanked by a stone wall, ten feet high, with a 
deep ditch in front, and covered by a^strong mus- 
ketry force in the rear, under complete shelter. 
There were two other batteries of grape-shot dis- 
charged, that swept the ground continually. 

"Colonel Mitchell, who commanded the regiment 
of Ohio volunteers, was wounded about the same 
time that I was, and we then prudently abandoned 
the enterprise, as we became convinced that our loss 
would have been probably at least one hundred more 
men, had we persevered. 

" I hope you will not think I acted rashly. I 
know that I am often rash where I involve myself 
alone ; not so, however, when the fates of others are 
at stake. 

" The condition in which we were placed fully 
justified, if it did not positively require us to make 
the attempt. The peculiarity of our situation I 



MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER. 193 

cannot now explain, without going into greater de- 
tail than I am able to do. 

" The battle commenced about nine o'clock, A. M., 
and continued without intermission, with various 
degrees of intensity, for eight hours. 

" I had almost one thousand men in the battle, 
(the Louisville Legion hawing been left to guard our 
mortars), and of that number we lost in killed and 
wounded about two hundred and fifty. 

" We took one battery and a house fitted up as a 
fortification, and assisted the regulars in taking a 
second. General Worth, with great gallantry and 
equal success, and with far less loss, carried on his 
operations on the opposite side of the town. 

" The loss of the regulars who acted with us, was 
nearly proportional to ours as I learn, though I have 
not seen the official returns. 

"Under all the circumstances, the terms of the 
capitulation are favourable to us. There are still 
several strong forts in the hands of the enemy, 
which we would have been compelled to take by 
regular approaches or with heavy losses. The plaza 
is of itself an enormous fortification of continuous 
houses, with thick stone walls, and all the streets 
leading into it strongly fortified and filled with 
guns. 

" They admit that they will have at least eight 
thousand fighting men, whilst on our part we cannot 
muster five thousand for duty, and have only a few 
heavy guns, and those we took from them. 

" Never, I believe, did troops, both volunteers and 
regulars, behave with more calmness and intrepidity, 
and I do not believe that for downright, straight- 
forward, hard fighting, the battle of Monterey has 
ever been surpassed." 

We have yet another tribute, by an accomplished 

soldier, the present Lieutenant-Colonel Lorenzo 

Thomas, of the regular army, to show the estimate 

placed on Major-General Butler, and his deeds at 

17 



194 LIFE OF 

Monterey, by the professional soldiers of the ser- 
vice : 

" The army arrived at their camp in the vicinity 
of Monterey, about noon, September 19th. That 
afternoon the general endeavoured, by personal ob- 
servation, to get information of the enemy's position. 
Ho, like General Tayloiyssaw the importance of 
gaining the road to Saltillo, and fully favored the 
movement of General Worth's division to turn their 
left, &c; Worth marched, Sunday, September 20th, 
for this purpose, thus leaving Twiggs's and Butler's 
divisions with General Taylor. General Butler was 
also in favor of throwing his division across the St. 
John's river, and approaching the town from the 
east, which was at first determined upon. This was 
changed, as it would leave but one, and perhaps the 
smallest division, to guard the camp and attack in 
front. The 20th, the general also reconnoitered the 
enemy's position. Early on the morning of the 21st, 
the force was ordered out, to create a diversion in 
favor of Worth, that he might gain his position ; and 
before our division came within long range of the 
enemy's principal battery, the foot of Twiggs's di- 
vision had been ordered down to the northeast side 
of the town, to make an armed reconnoissance of the 
advanced battery, and to take it, if it could be done 
without great loss. The volunteer division was 
scarcely formed in rear of our howitzer and mortar 
battery, established the night previous, under cover 
of a rise of ground, before the infantry sent down to 
the northeast side of the town became closely and 
hotly engaged, the batteries of that division were 
sent down,*<7??f7 we were then ordered to support the 
attack. Leaving the Kentucky regiment to support 
the mortar and howitzer battery, the general rapid- 
ly put in march, by a flank movement, the other 
three regiments, moving for some one and a half or 
two miles under a heavy fire of round shot. As fur- 
ther ordered, the Ohio regiment was detached from 






MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER. 105 

Quitman's brigade, and led by the general (at ibis 
time accompanied by General Taylor) into the 
town. Quitman carried his brigade directly on the 
battery .first attacked, and gallantly carried it. lie- 
fore this, however, as we entered the suburbs, the 
chief engineer came up and advised us to withdraw, 
as the object of the attack had failed, and if we 
moved on we must meet with great loss. The gen- 
eral was loath to fall back without consulting with 
General Taylor, which he did do— the general be- 
ing but a short distance off. As we were withdraw- 
ing, news came that Quitman had carried the bat- 
tery, and General Butler led the Ohio regiment back 
to the town at a different point. In the street, we 
became exposed to a line of batteries on the oppo- 
site side of a small stream, and also from a tete de 
pont, (bridge-head,) which enfiladed us. Our men 
fell rapidlyas we moved up the street to get a posi- 
tion to charge the battery across the stream. Com- 
ing to a cross street, the general reconnoitred the 
position, and determining to charge from that point, 
sent me back a short distance to stop the firing, and 
advance the regiment with the bayonet. I had just 
left him, when he was struck in the leg, being on 
foot, and was obliged to leave the field. 

" On entering the town, the general and his troops 
became at once "hotly engaged at short musket range. 
He had to make his reconnoissances under heavy fire. 
This he did unflinchingly, and by exposing his per- 
son, on one occasion passing through a gate- way 
into a yard which was entirely open to the enemy. 
When wounded, at the intersection of two streets, 
he was exposed to a cross-fire from musketry and 

grape. 

"In battle, the general's bearing was trulv that 
of a soldier, and" those under him felt the influence 
of his presence. He had the confidence of his men." 

After referring to various minor points, Major 
Thomas thus continues his account : 



196 LIFE OF 

"When General Taylor went on his expedition to 
Victoria, in December, he placed General Butler in 
command of the troops on the Rio Grande, and on 
the stations thence to Saltillo, Worth's small divi- 
sion of regulars being at the latter place. General 
Wool's column had by this time reached Parras, one 
hundred or more miles west of Saltillo. General 
Butler had so far recovered from his wound as to 
walk a little, and ride, though with pain to his limb. 
One night, (about December 10,) an express came 
from General Worth, at Saltillo, stating that the 
Mexican forces w r ere advancing in large numbers, 
from San Luis de Potosi, and that he expected, in 
two days, to be attacked. His division, all told, 
did not exceed 1500 men, if so many, and he asked 
for reinforcements. The general remained up dur- 
ing the balance of the night, and sent off couriers to 
the rear for reinforcements, and had the llth Ken- 
tucky and 1st Ohio foot, then encamped three miles 
from the town, in the place by daylight : and these 
two regiments, and Webster's battery, were encamp- 
ed that night ten miles on the road to Saltillo. This 
promptness enabled the general to make his second 
day's march of twenty-two miles in good season, and 
to hold the celebrated pass of Los Muertos, and 
check the enemy should he have attacked General 
Worth on that day, and obliged him to evacuate the 
town. Whilst on the next, and last day's march, 
the general received notice that the reported ad- 
vance of the enemy was untrue. Arriving at the 
camp-ground, the general suffered intense pain from 
his wound, and slept not during the night. This 
journey, over a rugged, mountainous road, and the 
exercise he took in examining the country, for twen- 
ty miles in advance of Saltillo, caused the great in- 
crease of pain now experienced." 

The general has been struck on the side of the 
calf of his leg, by a grape-shot, which inflicted a 
wound at the time not supposed to be severe. It 



« 



MAJOR-GENERAL BUTLER. 197 

did not, however, heal, and occasioned so much pain 
that General Taylor, on his return to Monterey, 
from Victoria, gave him leave of absence. He im- 
mediately proceeded to the United States, and after 
a brief sojourn at his residence, was subsequently 
ordered to the army of General Scott. He succeeded 
the latter in the command of the American troops 
in the republic of Mexico, whence General Taylor 
had previously gone. While being cured of his 
wound, the battles of Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, and 
the valley of Mexico, had been fought, and subse- 
quent events have caused it to be much regretted, 
that he was thus unable to participate in them. His 
rank and character would possibly have enabled him 
to prevent many exposures on the part of more than 
one of his junior generals. 

Major-Genera! Butler is tall and athletic, his 
whole bearing is graceful and military, and his ap- 
pearance prepossessing. Strong good sense is mark- 
ed in his countenance, and his career in the service 
proves this to be his distinguishing trait. Of all the 
generals in the army, regular, for the war, or of volun- 
teers, who have been under fire since the contest be- 
gan, he is perhaps the only one of whom no one has 
complained, whom no one has censured, and who 
has contended only with the enemies of his country. 
The nomination of this distinguished soldier will add 
new strength to the democratic party in the ensu- 
ing canvass, and has wrung even from his opponents 
the concession, that to him "there is no objection," 
but. on strictly party grounds. This objection will 
doubly endear him to the people of the United 
States. 



15" 



APPENDIX. 



THE WILMOT PROVISO. 

The immense importance of the consequences of 
the extension of our constitution and laws over new 
territories obtained by conquest and otherwise, and 
the unavoidable conflict of the interests of the free 
and slave states, render this question most interest- 
ing. Although more than once it has been presumed 
in the foregoing pages, that the Wilmot proviso was 
understood, it may not be improper to recapitulate 
briefly its character and nature. Originating with 
Mr. Webster, it was seized upon by the opposition, 
and announced to the world through the instrumen- 
tality of Mr. David Wilmot, a member of congress 
from an obscure district of Pennsylvania, with the 
manifest intention of alienating the southern states 
from the support of the war, by providing that 
slavery should be prohibited in any new territory 
acquired, or likely to be acquired, during the exist- 
ing Mexican war. Introduced as an additional 
clause of an important bill, it became almost the 
defining line of the two parties, and upon it much 
of the interest of the approaching congressional con- 
test must hinge. In the resolutions of the demo- 
cratic party, previously printed, and in the ensuing 
letter will be found the embodiment of the cardinal 
points of the creed of the great democratic party, 
and the honest convictions of the two men, Gene- 
rals (.'ass and Butler, nominated as candidates for 
the suffrages of the people. 

198 



THE WILMOT PROVISO. 199 

Washington, December 24, 1847. 

Dear Sir : — I have received your letter, and shall 
answer it, as frankly as it is written. 

You ask me whether I am in favour of the acqui- 
sition of Mexican territory, and what are my senti- 
ments with regard to the Wilmot Proviso? 

I have so often and so explicitly stated my views 
of the first question, in the Senate, that it seems al- 
most unnecessary to repeat them here. As you 
request it, however, 1 shall briefly give them. 

I think, then, that no peace should be granted to 
Mexico, till a reasonable indemnity is obtained for 
the injuries which she has done us. The territorial 
extent of this indemnity is, in the first instance, a 
subject of Executive consideration. There the Con- 
stitution has placed it, and there J am willing to 
leave it; not only because I have full confidence in 
its judicious exercise, but because, in the ever-vary- 
ing circumstances of a war, it would be indiscreet, 
by a public declaration, to commit the country to 
anv line of indemnity, which might otherwise be 
enlarged, as the obstinate injustice of the enemy 
prolongs the contest, with its loss of blood and 
treasure. 

It appears to me that the kind of metaphysical 
magnanimity, which would reject all indemnity at 
the close of a bloody and expensive war, brought on 
by a direct attack upon our troops by the enemy, 
and preceded by a succession of unjust acts for a 
series of years, is as unworthy of the age in which 
we live, as it is revolting to the common sense and 
practice of mankind. It would conduce but little 
to our future security, or indeed, to our present re- 
putation, to declare that we repudiate all expecta- 
tion of compensation from the Mexican government, 
and are fighting, not for any practical result, but for 
some vague, perhaps philanthropic object, which es- 
capes my penetration, and must be defined by those 



200 THE WILMOT PROVISO. 

who assume this new principle of national intercom- 
munication. All wars are to be deprecated, as well 
by the statesman, as by the philanthropist. They 
are great evils; but there are greater evils than 
these, and submission to injustice is among them. 
The nation which should refuse to defend its rights 
and its honour, when assailed, would soon have nei- 
ther to defend ; and when driven to war, it is not 
by professions of disinterestedness and declarations 
of magnanimity, that its rational objects can be best 
obtained, or other nations taught a lesson of for- 
bearance — the strongest security for permanent 
peace. We are at war with Mexico, and its vigor- 
ous prosecution is the surest means of its speedy 
terminalion, and ample indemnity the surest guar- 
antee against the recurrence of such injustice as pro- 
voked it. 

The Wilmot Proviso has been before the country 
some time. It has been repeatedly discussed in 
Congress, and by the public press. I am strongly 
impressed with the opinion, that a great change has 
been going on in the public mind upon this subject 
— in my own as well as others; and that doubts are 
resolving themselves into convictions, that the prin- 
ciple it involves should be kept out of the National 
Legislature, and left to the people of the Confede- 
racy in their respective local governments. 

The whole subject is a comprehensive one, and 
fruitful of important consequences. It would be ill- 
timed to discuss it here. I shall not assume that 
responsible task, but shall confine myself to such 
general views, as are necessary to 'the fair exhibi- 
tion of my opinions. 

We may well regret the existence of slavery in 
the southern states, and wish they had been saved 
from its introduction. But there it is, and not by 
the act of the present generation ; and we must deal 
with it as a great practical question, involving the 
most momentous consequences. We have neither 



THE WILMOT PROVISO. 20 1 

the right nor the power to touch it where it exists; 
and if we had both, their exercise, by any means 
heretofore suggested, might lead to results which 
no wise man would willingly encounter, and which 
no good man could contemplate without anxiety. 

The theory of our government presupposes that 
its various members have reserved to themselves the 
regulation of all subjects relating to what may be 
termed their internal police. They are sovereign 
within their boundaries, except in those cases where 
they have surrendered to the general government a 
portion of their rights, in order to give effect to the 
objects of the Union, whether these concern foreign 
nations or the several states themselves. Local in- 
stitutions, if I may so speak, whether they have re- 
ference to slavery, or to any other relations, domes- 
tic or public, are left to local authority, either ori- 
ginal or derivative. Congress has no right to say, 
that there shall be slaverv in New York, or that 
there shall be no slavery in Georgia; nor is there 
any other human power, but the people of those 
states, respectively, which can change the relations 
existing therein; and they can say, if they will, we 
will have slavery in the former, and we will abolish 
it in the latter. 

In various respects the territories differ from the 
states. Some of their rights are inchoate, and they 
do not possess the peculiar attributes of sovereignty. 
Their relation to the general government is very 
imperfectly defined by the Constitution; and it will 
be found, upon examination, that in that instrument 
the only grant of power concerning them is convey- 
ed in the phrase, " Congress shall have the power 
to dispose of and make all needful rules and regula- 
tions, respecting the territory and other property 
belonging to the United States." Certainly this 
phraseology is very loose, if it were designed to in- 
clude in the grant the whole power of legislation 
over persons as well as things. The expression, the 



202 THE W1LMOT PROVISO. 

"territory and other property," fairly construed, 
relates to the public lands as such, to arsenals, dock 
yards, forts, ships, and all the various kinds of pro- 
perty, which the United States may and must pos- 
sess. 

But surely the simple authority to dispose of and 
regulate these, does not extend to the unlimited 
power of legislation ; to the passage of all laws, in 
the most general acceptation of the word; which, 
by the by, is carefully excluded from the sentence. 
And, indeed, if this were so, it would render unne- 
cessary another provision of the Constitution, which 
grants to Congress the power to legislate, with the 
consent of the states, respectively, over all places 
purchased for the "erection of forts, magazines, ar- 
senals, dock-yards," &c. These being the "pro- 
perty" of the United States, if the power to make 
" needful rules and regulations concerning" them 
includes the general power of legislation, then the 
grant of authority to regulate "the territory and 
other property of the United States" is unlimited, 
wherever subjects are found for its operation, and 
its exercise needed no auxiliary provision. If, on 
the other hand, it does not include such power of 
legislation over the " other property" of the United 
States, then it does not include it over their "terri- 
tory;" for the same terms which grant the one, grant 
the other. " Territory" is here classed with pro- 
perty, and treated as such; and the object was evi- 
dently to enable the general government, as a pro- 
perty-holder — which, from necessity, it must be — 
to manage, preserve, and "dispose of" sueh pro- 
perty as it might possess, and which authority is 
essential almost to its being. But the lives and 
persons of our citizens, with the vast variety of ob- 
jects connected with them, cannot be controlled by 
an authority, which is merely called into existence 
for the purpose of making rules and regulations for 
the disposition and management of property. 



THE WILMOT PROVISO. 203 

Such, it appears to me, would be the construction 
put upon this provision of the Constitution, were 
this question now first presented for consideration, 
and not controlled by imperious circumstances. 
The original ordinance of the Congress of the Con- 
federation, passed in 1787, and which was the only 
act upon this subject in force at the adoption of the 
Constitution, provided a complete frame of govern- 
ment for the country north of the Ohio, while in a 
territorial condition, and for its eventual admission 
in separate states into the Union. And the persua- 
sion, that this ordinance contained within itself all 
the necessary means of execution, probably pre- 
vented any direct reference to the subject in the 
Constitution, further than vesting in Congress the 
right to admit the states formed under it into the 
Union. However, circumstances arose, which re- 
quired legislation, as well over the territory north 
of the Ohio, as over other territory, both within and 
without the original Union, ceded to the general 
government ; and, at various times, a more enlarged 
power has been exercised over the territories — 
meaning thereby the different Territorial Govern- 
ments — than is conveyed by the limited grant re- 
ferred to. How far an existing necessity may have 
operated in producing this legislation, and thus ex- 
tending, by rather a violent implication, powers not 
directly given, I know not. But certain it is, that 
the principle of interference should not be carried 
beyond the necessary implication, which produces 
it. It should be limited to the creation of proper 
governments for new countries, acquired or settled, 
and to the necessary provision for their eventual 
admission into the Union ; leaving, in the meantime, 
to the people inhabiting them, to regulate their in- 
ternal concerns in their own way. They are just 
as capable of doing so, as the people of the states ; 
and they can do so, at any rate, as soon as their 
political independence is recognized by admission 



204 THE WILMOT PROVISO. 

into the Union. During this temporary condition, 
it is hardly expedient to call into exercise a doubt- 
ful and invidious authority, which questions the in- 
telligence of a respectable portion of our citizens, 
and whose limitation, whatever it may be, will be 
rapidly approaching its termination — on authority 
which would give to Congress despotic power, un- 
controlled by the Constitution, over most important 
sections of our common country. For, if the rela- 
tion of master and servant may be regulated or an- 
nihilated by its legislation, so may the relation of 
husband and wife, of parent and child, and of any 
other condition which our institutions and the ha- 
bits of our society recognize. What w T ould be 
thought if Congress should undertake to prescribe 
the terms of marriage in New York, or to regulate 
the authority of parents over their children in Penn- 
sylvania! And yet it would be as vain to seek one 
justifying the interference of the National Legisla- 
ture in the cases referred to in the original states 
of the Union. I speak here of the inherent power 
of Congress, and do not touch the question of such 
contracts as may be formed with new states when 
admitted into the Confederacy. 

Of all the questions that can agitate us, those 
which are merely sectional in their character are 
the most dangerous, and the most to be deprecated. 
The warning voice of him who, from his character, 
and services, and virtue, had the best right to warn 
us, proclaimed to his countrymen, in his farewell 
address — that monument of wisdom for him, as I 
hope it will be of safety for them — how much we 
had to apprehend from measures peculiarly affect- 
ing geographical portions of our country. The 
grave circumstances in which we are now placed 
make these words, words of safety; for I am satis- 
fied, from all I have seen and heard here, that a suc- 
cessful attempt to ingraft the principles of the Wil- 
mot Proviso upon the legislation of this government. 






THE WILMOT PROVISO. 205 

and to apply them to new territory, should new ter- 
ritory be acquired, would seriously affect our tran- 
quillity. I do not suffer myself to foresee or to fore- 
tell the consequences that would ensue; for I trust 
and believe there is good sense and good feeling 
enough in the country to avoid them, by avoiding 
all occasions which might lead to them. 

Briefly, then, I am opposed to the exercise of any 
jurisdiction by Congress over this matter; and I am 
in favour of leaving to the people of any territory, 
which may be hereafter acquired, the right to regu- 
late it for themselves, under the general principles 
of the Constitution. Because — 

1. I do not see in the Constitution any grant of 
the requisite power to Congress ; and I am not dispos- 
ed to extend a doubtful precedent beyond its neces- 
sity — the establishment of Territorial Governments 
when needed — leaving to the inhabitants all the 
rights compatible with the relations they bear to the 
Confederation. 

2. Because I believe this measure, if adopted, 
would weaken, if not impair, the union of the 
states; and would sow the seeds of future discord, 
which would grow up and ripen into an abundant 
harvest of calamity. 

3. Because I believe a general conviction, that 
such a proposition would succeed, would lead to an 
immediate withholding of the supplies, and thus to 
a dishonourable termination of the war. I think no 
dispassionate observer at the seat of government can 
doubt this result. 

4. If, however, in this I am under a misapprehen- 
sion, I am under none in the practical operation of 
this restriction, if adopted by Congress, upon a treaty 
of peace making any acquisition of Mexican terri- 
tory. Such a treaty would be rejected just as cer- 
tainly as presented to the Senate. More than one- 
third of that body would vote against it, viewing 
such a principle as an exclusion of the citizens of 

18 



206 THE WILMOT PROVISO. 

the slaveholding states from a participation in the 
benefits acquired by the treasure and exertions of 
all, and which should be common to all. I am re- 
peating — neither advancing nor defending these 
views. That branch of the subject does not lie in 
my way, and I shall not turn aside to seek it. 

In this aspect of the matter, the people of the 
United States must choose between this restriction 
and the extension of their territorial limits. They 
cannot have both; and which they will surrender 
must depend upon their representatives first, and 
then, if these fail them, upon themselves. 

5. But, after all, it seems to be generally conced- 
ed, that this restriction, if carried into effect, could 
not operate upon any state to be formed from newly 
acquired territory. The well-known attributes of 
sovereignty, recognized by us as belonging to the 
state governments, would sweep before them any 
such barrier, and would leave the people to express 
and exert their will at pleasure. Is the object, then, 
of temporary exclusion for so short a period as the 
duration of the Territorial Governments, worth the 
price at which it would be purchased ? — worth the 
discord it would engender, the trial to which it 
would expose our Union, and the evils that would 
be the certain consequence, let that trial result as it 
might? As to the course, which has been intimated 
rather than proposed, of ingrafting such a restriction 
upon any treaty of acquisition, I persuade myself it 
would find but little favour in any portion of this 
country. Such an arrangement would render Mexi- 
co a party, having a right to interfere in our inter- 
nal institutions, in questions left by the constitution 
to the state governments, and would inflict a serious 
blow upon our fundamental principles. Few, in- 
deed, I trust, there are among us who would thus 
grant to a foreign power the right to inquire into 
the constitution and conduct of the sovereign states 
of this Union ; and if there are any, I am not among 



THE WILMOT PROVISO. 207 

them, and never shall be. To the people of this 
country, under God, now and hereafter, are its des- 
tinies committed; and we want no foreign power to 
interrogate us, treaty in hand, and to say, Why have 
you done this, or why have you left that undone? 
Our own dignity and the principles of national in 
dependence unite to repel such a proposition. 

But there is another important consideration, 
which ought not to be lost sight of in the investiga- 
tion of this subject. The question that presents 
itself is not a question of the increase, but of the 
diffusion of slavery. Whether its sphere be sta- 
tionary or progressive, its amount will be the same. 
The rejection of this restriction will not add one to 
the class of servitude, nor will its adoption give 
freedom to a single being who is now placed therein. 
The same numbers will be spread over greater ter- 
ritory, and so far as compression, with less abund- 
ance of the necessaries of life, is an evil, so far will 
that evil be mitigated by transporting slaves to a 
new country, and giving them a larger space to oc- 
cupy. 

I say this in the event of the extension of slavery 
over any new acquisition. But can it go there? 
This may well be doubted. All the descriptions 
which reach us of the condition of the Californias 
and of New Mexico, to the acquisition of which our 
efforts seem at present directed, unite in represent- 
ing those countries as agricultural regions, similar 
in their products to our middle states, and generally 
unfit for the production of the great staples, which 
can alone render slave labour valuable. If we are 
not grossly deceived — and it is difficult to conceive 
how we can be — the inhabitants of those regions, 
whether they depend upon their ploughs or their 
herds, cannot be slaveholders. Involuntary labour, 
requiring the investment of large capital, can only 
be profitable when employed in the production of a 



208 THE WILMOT PROVISO. 

few favoured articles confined by nature to special 
districts, and paying larger returns than the usual 
agricultural products spread over more considerable 
portions of the earth. 

In the able letter of Mr. Buchanan upon this sub- 
ject, not long since given to the public, he presents 
similar considerations with great force. " Neither," 
says the distinguished writer, " the soil, the climate, 
nor the productions of California south of 36° 30', 
nor indeed of any portion of it, north or south, is 
adapted to slave labour ; and besides, every facility 
would be there afforded for the slave to escape from 
his master. Such property w T ould be entirely inse- 
cure in any part of California. It is morally impos- 
sible, therefore, that a majority of the emigrants to 
that portion of the territory south of 36° 30', which 
will be chiefly composed of our citizens, will ever 
reestablish slavery within its limits. 

" In regard to New Mexico, east of the Rio 
Grande, the question has already been settled by the 
admission of Texas into the Union. 

" Should we acquire territory beyond the Rio 
Grande and east of the Rocky Mountains, it is still 
more impossible that a majority of the people would 
consent to reestablish slavery. They are themselves 
a coloured population, and among them the negro 
does not belong socially to a degraded race." 

With this last remark Mr. Walker fully coincides 
in his letter written in 1844, upon the annexation 
of Texas, and which everywhere produced so fa- 
vourable an impression upon the public mind, as 
to have conduced very materially to the accomplish- 
ment of that great measure. "Beyond the Del 
Norte," says Mr. Walker, " slavery will not pass; 
not only because it is forbidden by law, but because 
the coloured race there preponderates in the ratio 
of ten to one over the whites; and holding, as they 
do, the government and most of the offices in their 



THE WILMOT PROVISO. 20«) 

possession, they will not permit the enslavement of 
any portion of the coloured race, which makes ana 
executes the laws of the country." 

The question, it will be therefore seen on exami- 
nation, does not regard the exclusion of slavery from 
a region where it now exists, but a prohibition 
against its introduction where it does not exist, and 
where, from the feelings of the inhabitants and the 
laws of nature, " it is morally impossible," as Mr. 
Buchanan says, that it can ever reestablish itself. 

It augurs well for the permanence of our confede- 
ration, that during more than half a century, which 
has elapsed since the establishment of this govern- 
ment, many serious questions, and some of the highest 
importance, have agitated the public mind, and more 
than once threatened the gravest consequences, but 
that they have all in succession passed away, leav- 
ing our institutions unscathed, and our country ad- 
vancing in numbers, power, and wealth, and in all 
the other elements of national prosperity, with a 
rapidity unknown in ancient or in modern days. In 
times of political excitement, when difficult and 
delicate questions present themselves for solution, 
there is one ark of safety for us, — and that is, an 
honest appeal to the fundamental principles of our 
Union, and a stern determination to abide their 
dictates. This course of proceeding has carried us 
in safety through many a trouble, and I trust will 
carry us safely through many more, should many 
more be destined to assail us. The Wilmot Proviso 
seeks to take from its legitimate tribunal a question 
of domestic policy, having no relation to the Union, 
as such, and to transfer it to another, created by the 
people for a special purpose, and foreign to the sub- 
ject-matter involved in this issue. By going back 
to our true principles, we go back to the road of 
>>eace and safety. Leave to the people, who will be 
effected by this question, to adjust it upon their own 
18* 



210 THE WILMOT PROVISO. 

responsibility, and in their own manner, and we 
shall render another tribute to the original princi- 
ples of our government, and furnish another guaran- 
tee for its permanence and prosperity. 

I am, dear sir, respectfully, your obedient servant, 

LEWIS CASS. 
A. O. P. Nicholson, Esq., Nashville, Tennessee. 



THE END. 






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